Li  '■ f  ivt  i^  ■' 1  o 

H  Retirement  Inna  for  teachers 

1  (  /./, 


BY  FREDERIC  ALLISON  TUPPER, 
Headmaster  of  the  Brighton  High  School, 

Boston. 


BOSTON: 

NEW  ENGLAND  PUBLISHING  COMPANY, 

1006. 


Copyright,  1906. 

By  Frederic  Allison  Tupper. 


\  Retirement  Fund  for  Teachers. 

• '  •  n  n y  oi 

The  most  direct  way  of  treating  this'  extremely 
important  question  is,  it  seems  to  me,  first,  to  show 
what  plan  is  now  actually  in  operation ;  second,  to! 
describe  as  minutely  as  possible  the  actual  work¬ 
ings  of  the  plan,  so  far  as  experience  has  shown 
them ;  third,  to  draw  up  a  bill  adapted  to  conditions 
in  the  state  of  Massachusetts,  by  publication  sub¬ 
mit  this  provisional  bill  to  the  criticism  of  all  who 
are  interested ;  and,  fourth,  to  have  the  bill,  after 
all  proper  preliminaries,  and,  of  course,  under  the 
appropriate  auspices,  presented  for  the  considera¬ 
tion  of  the  legislators.  As  our  principal  “light  and 
leading,”  so  far  as  the  establishment  of  retirement 
funds  is  concerned,  come  from  New  York,  it  is  to 
that  great  city  that  we  turn  for  the  best  retirement 
fund  plan  thus  far  devised  anywhere  in  the  world. 

The  amended  retirement  law  appears  in  chap¬ 
ter  661  of  the  Laws  of  1905,  and  is  as  follows: — 

AN  ACT 

To  amend  section  ten  hundred  and  ninety-two 
of  the  Greater  New  York  charter,  in  relation  to  the 
public  school  teachers’  retirement  fund.  Accepted 
by  the  city.  Became  a  law  May  31,  1905,  with  the 
approval  of  the  governor.  Passed,  three-fifths 
being  present. 

The  People  of  the  State  of  New  York,  repre¬ 
sented  in  Senate  and  Assembly,  do  enact  as  fol¬ 
lows  : — 

Section  I.  Section  ten  hundred  and  ninety-two 
of  the  Greater  New  York  charter,  as  amended  by  . 
chapter  five  hundred  and  thirty  of  the  laws  of 
nineteen  hundred  and  two,  and  as  amended  by 
chapter  one  hundred  and  seventy-seven  of  the  laws 
of  nineteen  hundred  and  three,  is  hereby  amended 
to  read  as  follows : — 


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Sec.  1092.  The  general  care  and  management  of 
the  public  school  teachers'  retirement  fund,  created 
for  the  former  city  of  New  York  by  chapter  two 
hundred  and  ninety-six  of  the  laws  of  eighteen  hun¬ 
dred  and  ninety-four,  and  of  the  public  school 
teachers’  retirement  fund  created  for  the  former  city 
of  Brooklyn,  by  chapter  six  hundred  and  fifty-six 
of  the  laws  of  eighteen  hundred  and  ninety-five,  is 
hereby  given  to  the  board  of  education,  and  the 
said  funds  are  hereby  made  parts  of  the  retirement 
fund  of  the  board  of  education  of  the  city  of  New 
York  created  by  this  act.  The  board  of  education 
shall,  from  time  to  time,  establish  such  rules  and 
regulations  for  the  administration  of  said  fund  as 
it  may  deem  best,  which  rules  and  regulations 
shall  preserve  all  rights  inhering  in  the  teachers  of 
the  city  of  New  York  and  the  city  of  Brooklyn  as 
constituted  prior  to  the  passage  of  this  act ;  and 
said  board  shall  make  payments  from  said  fund  of 
annuities  granted  in  pursuance  of  this  act.  The 
comptroller  of  the  city  of  New  York  shall  hold  and 
invest  all  money  belonging  to  said  fund,  and  by 
direction  of  -said  board  of  education  shall  pay  out 
the  same ;  and  he  shall  report  in  detail  to  the  board 
of  education  of  the  city  of  New  York,  annually,  in 
the  month  of  January,  the  condition  of  said  fund, 
and  the  items  of  the  receipts  and  disbursements  on 
account  of  the  same. 

The  said  retirement  fund  shall  consist  of  the  fol¬ 
lowing,  with  the  interest  and  income  thereof: — 

(I)  All  money,  pay,  compensation,  or  salary,  or 
any  income  thereof  forfeited,  deducted,  reserved,  or 
withheld  for  any  cause  from  any  member  or  mem¬ 
bers  of  the  teaching  or  supervising  staff  of  the  pub¬ 
lic  day  schools  of  the  city  of  New  York  or  of  the’ 
normal  college  and  training  department  of  the 
normal  college  of  the  city  of  New  York,  or  of 
schools  or  classes  maintained  in  institutions  con¬ 
trolled  by  the  department  of  public  charities,  or  by 


5 


the  department  of  correction,  in  pursuance  of  rules 
established  or  to  be  established  by  the  board  of 
education,  or  by  the  board  of  trustees  of  the  normal 
college  of  the  city  of  New  York,  or  by  the  com¬ 
missioner  of  public  charities,  or  by  the  commis¬ 
sioner  of  correction  for  schools  or  classes  main¬ 
tained  by  such  commissioners  respectively.  The 
auditor  of  the  board  of  education,  the  auditor  of 
the  board  of  trustees  of  the  normal  college,  the 
commissioner  of  public  charities,  and  the  commis¬ 
sioner  of  correction  shall  certify  monthly  to  the 
comptroller  the  amounts  so  forfeited,  deducted,  re¬ 
served,  or  withheld  during  the  preceding  month. 
Said  amounts  shall  be  turned  into  the  said  retire¬ 
ment  fund. 

(2)  All  moneys  received  from  donations,  legacies, 
gifts,  bequests,  or  otherwise  for  or  on  account  of 
said  fund. 

(3)  Five  per  centum  annually  of  all  excise 
moneys  or  license  fees  belonging  to  the  city  of 
New  York,  and  derived  or  received  by  any  com¬ 
missioner  of  excise  or  public  officer  from  the 
granting  of  licenses  or  permission  to  sell  strong  or 
spirituous  liquors*  ale,  wine,  or  beer  in  the  city  of 
New  York,  under  the  provisions  of  any  law  of  this 
state  authorizing  the  granting  of  such  license  or 
permission. 

(4)  One  per  centum  of  the  salaries  of  all  mem¬ 
bers  of  the  teaching  and  supervising  staff  of  the 
public  day  schools  of  the  city  of  New  York,  and  of 
the  normal  college  and  training  department  of  the 
normal  college  of  the  city  of  New  York,  and  of 
schools  or  classes  maintained  in  institutions  con¬ 
trolled  by  the  department  of  public  charities  or  by 
the  department  of  correction  of  the  city  of  New 
York,  except  that  the  amount  deducted  from  the 
salary  of  any  teacher  or  principal  of  the  public  day 
schools  of  the  city  of  New  York,  or  of  schools  or 
classes  maintained  in  institutions  controlled  by  the 


6 


department  of  public  charities  or  by  the  department 
of  correction  of  the  city  of  New  York,  in  this  man¬ 
ner,  shall  not  exceed  thirty  dollars  in  any  one  year, 
and  the  amount  deducted  from  the  salary  of  any 
supervising  official,  in  this  manner,  shall  not  ex¬ 
ceed  forty  dollars  in  any  one  year.  And  the  board 
of  education,  the  board  of  trustees  of  the  normal 
college,  the  commissioner  of  public  charities,  and 
the  commissioner  of  correction  shall,  after  the  pas¬ 
sage  of  this  act,  deduct  on  each  and  every  pay-roll 
of  the  said  teaching  and  supervising  staff  said  one 
per  centum  from  each  and  every  amount  earnable 
in  the  period  covered  by  the  said  pay-roll,  notwith¬ 
standing  the  minimum  salaries  provided  for  by  sec¬ 
tion  ten  hundred  and  ninety-one  of  the  charter  shall 
be  thereby  reduced,  and  shall  certify  monthly  to  the 
comptroller  the  amounts  so  deducted ;  and  said 
amounts  shall  be  turned  into  the  said  retirement 
fund.  All  deductions  made  under  the  provisions  of 
this  clause  from  the  salary  of  any  person  who  may 
be  dismissed  from  the  service  for  cause,  before  said 
person  shall  have  become  eligible  for  retirement 
under  the  provisions  of  this  act,  shall  be  refunded 
to  said  person  upon  such  dismissal. 

(5)  All  such  other  methods  of  increment  as  may 
be  duly  and  legally  devised  for  the  increase  of  said 
fund.  The  moneys  standing  to  the  credit  of  the 
*  retirement  fund  on  the  thirty-first  of  December, 
nineteen  hundred  and  four,  after  subtracting  there¬ 
from  any  amounts  forfeited,  deducted,  reserved,  or 
withheld  from  salads  for  absences  prior  to  that 
date,  which  may,  on  excuse  of  absence,  be  re¬ 
funded  after  that  date,  all  excise  moneys  of  nine¬ 
teen  hundred  and  four  which  may  have  been 
credited  to  said  fund  on  or  before  that  date,  and  all 
interest  for  nineteen  hundred  and  four  on  said  fund, 
which  may  have  been  credited  to  said  fund  on  or 
before  said  date,  shall  be  set  apart  by  the  comp¬ 
troller  as  a  permanent  fund.  The  unexpended  bal- 


X 


7 


ances  of  the  income  of  the  teachers"  retirement  fund 
for  the  year  1905  and  for  all  subsequent  years  shall 
be  added  to  the  said  permanent  fund.  The  comp¬ 
troller  shall  invest  the  said  permanent  fund,  and  the 
income  thereof  may  be  used  for  the  payment  of 
annuities,  but  if  necessary,  in  order  to  carry  out 
the  provisions  of  this  act,  the  board  of  education 
may  use  any  portion  of  the  permanent  fund  in  ex¬ 
cess  of  eight  hundred  thousand  dollars  in  the  same 
manner  as  the  income  thereof. 

The  president  of  the  board  of  education,  the 
chairman  of  the  committee  on  elementary  schools 
of  said  board,  the  chairman  of  the  committee  on 
high  schools  of  said  board,  the  city  superintendent 
of  schools,  and  three  members  to  be  selected  from 
the  principals,  assistants  to  principals,  and  teachers 
of  the  public  day  schools  shall  constitute  a  board 
of  retirement.  The  three  last-named  members 
shall  be  chosen  as  follows:  On  the  second  Thurs¬ 
day  of  May  in  each  year  the  principals,  assistants  to 
principals,  and  teachers  in  each  district  shall  meet 
at  the  call  of  the  district  superintendent,  which  call 
he  shall  issue  at  least  one  week  before  said  meeting, 
and  at  a  place  within  the  district  designated  by  him, 
to  select  by  ballot  one  of  their  number  as  district 
representative  to  serve  for  one  year.  At  the  close 
of  said  meeting,  the  presiding  officer  shall  transmit 
to  the  secretary  of  the  board  of  education  the  name 
and  address  of  the  district  representative  so  chosen. 
The  district  representatives  shall  meet  at  four 
o’clock  in  the  afternoon  on  4Jie  third  Thursday  of 
May  at  the  hall  of  the  board  of  education,  and 
choose  by  ballot  one  of  their  number  to  serve  on 
the  board  of  retirement  for  three  years  from'  the 
first  day  of  the  following  June.  At  the  first  meet¬ 
ing  of  the  district  representatives  after  this  law 
takes  effect,  they  shall  choose  by  ballot  three  of 
their  number  to  serve  on  the  board  of  retirement, 
and  the  three  so  chosen  shall  by  lot  fix  and  deter- 


8 


mine  their  terms  of  office  as  one,  two,  and  three 
years  respectively.  Should  a  vacancy  occur  among 
the  members  of  the  board  of  retirement  so  chosen, 
the  district  representatives  shall  meet  and  choose 
by  ballot  one  of  their  number  to  serve  on  the  board 
of  retirement  for  the  unexpired  term.  On  the 
recommendation  of  the  board  of  retirement,  said 
board  of  education  shall  have  power,  by  a  two-thirds 
vote  of  all  its  members,  to  retire  any  member  of  the 
teaching  or  supervising  staff  of  the  public  day 
schools  of  the  city  of  New  York,  or  of  schools  or 
classes  maintained  in  institutions  controlled  by  the 
department  of  public  charities  or  by  the  department 
of  correction,  who  is  mentally  or  physically  in¬ 
capacitated  for  the  performance  of  duty,  and  who 
has  been  engaged  in  the  work  of  teaching  or  of 
school  or  college  supervision,  or  of  examination  of 
teachers  for  licenses,  or  any  two  or  more  of  the 
several  kinds  of  work,  for  a  period  aggregating 
twenty  years,  fifteen  of  which  shall  have  been  in  the 
public  day  schools  in  the  city  of  New  York,  or  in 
schools  or  classes  maintained  in  institutions  con¬ 
trolled  by  the  department  of  public  charities,  or  by 
the  department  of  correction.  And  the  board  of 
education  may  retire  from  active  service  any  mem¬ 
ber  of  the  said  teaching  or  supervising  staff  who 
shall  have  attained  the  age  of  sixty-five  years,  and 
shall  have  been  engaged  in  the  work  of  teaching  or 
school  supervision  for  a  period  aggregating  thirty 
years.  On.  the  recommendation  of  the  board  of 
retirement,  the  board  of  education  shall  have 
power,  by  a  two-thirds  vote  of  all  its  members,  to 
retire  upon  his  or  her  own  application  any  mem¬ 
ber  of  the  teaching  or  supervising  staff  of  the  pub¬ 
lic  day  schools  of  the  city  of  New  York,  or  of 
schools  or  classes  maintained  in  institutions  con¬ 
trolled  bv  the  department  of  public  charities  or  by 
the  department  of  correction  who>  has  been  en¬ 
gaged  in  the  work  of  teaching  or  of  school  or  col- 


0 


lege  supervision,  or  of  examination  of  teachers  for 
licenses,  or  any  two  or  more  of  these  several  kinds 
of  work,  for  a  period  aggregating  thirty  years,  fif¬ 
teen  of  which  shall  have  been  in  any  of  the  said 
institutions.  The  said  board  of  education  shall  also 
have  power,  by  a  two-thirds  vote  of  all  its  mem¬ 
bers,  and  after  recommendation  to  that  effect  shall 
have  been  made  bv  the  board  of  trustees  of  the 
normal  college  stating  that  the  member  of  the 
supervising  or  teaching  force  is  mentally  or  physi¬ 
cally  incapacitated  for  the  performance  of  duty,  to 
retire  any  member  of  the  teaching  or  supervising 
force  of  the  normal  college  or  of  the  training  de¬ 
partment  of  the  normal  college  who  shall  have  been 
engaged  in  said  normal  college .  or  training  de¬ 
partment  for  ten  years  and  shall  have  been  en¬ 
gaged  in  some  university,  college,  academy,  or 
school  or  in  the  public  schools  in  this  state  or  else¬ 
where  during  a  period  aggregating  thirty  years. 
The  said  board  of  education,  upon  the  recom¬ 
mendation  of  the  trustees  of  the  normal  college, 
may  also,  in  its  discretion,  retire  any  such  member 
of  the  teaching  or  supervising  force  upon  his  or 
her  own  application  after  the  like  period  of  service.” 

“Upon  such  retirement,  whether  voluntary  or 
otherwise,  the  person  retired  shall  be  entitled  to  re¬ 
ceive  an  annuity  out  of  the  teachers’  retirement 
fund  of  not  less  than  one-half  of  the  annual  salary 
paid  to  such  person  at  the  period  of  retirement,  and 
in  case  of  the  president  or  of  a  professor  to  such  an 
additional  sum  per  annum  as  will  increase  such 
one-half  of  the  salary  previously  paid  if  not  an 
even  multiple  of  one  thousand  dollars  to  an  event 
multiple  of  one  thousand  dollars.-  Any  person  re¬ 
tired  under  the  provisions  of  this  act  after  thirty 
years  of  service,  except  as  hereinbefore  in  this  sec¬ 
tion  provided  in  the  case  of  the  president  or  of  a 
professor  of  the  normal  college,  shall  receive  as  an 
annuity  one-half  of  the  annual  salary  paid  to  said 


10 


person  at  the  date  of  said  retirement,  not  to  exceed, 
however,  in  the  case  of  a  teacher  or  principal,  the 
sum  of  fifteen  hundred  dollars  per  annum,  and  in 
the  case  of  a  supervising  official,  two1  thousand  dol¬ 
lars  per  annum.  And  in  no  case  shall  the  annuity 
of  any  person  already  retired  or  hereafter  to  be  re¬ 
tired  after  thirty  years  of  service  be  less  than  six 
hundred  dollars.  Any  person  retired  after  twenty 
years  of  service,  but  less  than  thirty  years  of  ser¬ 
vice,  shall  receive  an  annuity  which  bears  the  same 
ratio  to  the  annuity  provided  for  on  retirement  after 
thirty  years  of  service  as  the  total  number  of  years 
of  service  of  said  person  bears  to  thirty  years. 
The  annuities  provided  for  by  this  act  shall  be  pay¬ 
able  in  monthly  instalments.  All  retirements  made 
under  the  provisions  of  this  act  shall  take  effect 
either  on  the  first  day  of  February  or  on  the  first 
day  of  September.  The  number  of  persons  retired 
in  any  one  year,  shall  be  so  limited,  that  the  entire 
amount  of  the  annuities  to  be  paid  for  that  year 
shall  not  be  in  excess  of  the  estimated  amount  of 
the  retirement  fund  applicable  to  the  payment  of 
annuities  for  that  year.  The  words  Teaching  and 
supervising  staff  of  the  public  day  schools  of  the 
city  of  New  York/  as  used  in  this  section,  shall  in¬ 
clude  the  city  superintendent  of  schools,  the  asso¬ 
ciate  city  superintendents,  the  district  superintend¬ 
ents,  the  members  of  the  board  of  examiners,  direc¬ 
tors,  and  assistant  directors  of  special  branches,  the 
supervisor  and  assistant  supervisor  of  lectures,  all 
principals,  vice-principals,  assistants  to  principals, 
heads  of  departments,  and  all  regular  and  special 
teachers  of  the  public  day  schools  of  the  city  of 
New  York.  Nothing  in  this  act  shall  be  construed 
as  prohibiting  the  reappointment  to  active  service, 
on  his  or  her  own  application,  of  any  person  who 
has  been  retired  under  the  provisions  of  this  act. 
Upon  the  reappointment  of  any  such  person  the 
payment  of  the  annuity  of  said  person  shall  be  dis- 


11 


continued.  Teachers  hereafter  appointed  in  schools 
or  classes  maintained  in  the  institutions  controlled 
by  the  department  of  public  charities  or  by  the  de¬ 
partment  of  correction  shall  be  appointed  by  the 
commissioner  of  the  appropriate. department  upon 
the  nomination  of  the  city  superintendent  of 
schools,  and  shall  be  licensed  by  the  board  of  ex¬ 
aminers  of  the  department  of  education.  The 
department  of  education  through  such  representa¬ 
tives  as  it  may  designate  shall  maintain  an  effec¬ 
tive  visitation  and  inspection  of  all  such  schools  and 
classes.” 

“Section  2.  This  act  shall  take  effect  Mav  first, 
nineteen  hundred  and  five.” 

The  plan  described  in  the  preceding  articles  pro¬ 
vides  for  the  creation  and  maintenance  of  a  fund 
and  the  management  of  it.  It  provides  also  for  a 
just  distribution  of  the  annuities  at  an  age  not  too 
early  to  overburden  the  system,  and  not  so  late  as 
to  be  beyond  reasonable  hope.  This  admirable 
Retirement  Law  of  New  York  is  a  sufficient  reply 
to  all  who  say  that  such  legislation  is  impossible. 
Impossible?  Gentlemen,  it  exists.  Read  it  for 
yourselves.  It  is  no  dream,  nd  figment  of  an  over¬ 
heated  imagination.  It  is  on  the  statute-books  of 
New  York,  not  as  a  dead  letter,  but  in  “letters  of 
living  light.”  And  now  the  question  very  naturally 
arises:  “Does  the  plan  work  well  in  practice?” 

Thomas  S.  O'Brien,  associate  city  superintend¬ 
ent  of  the  city  of  New  York,  in  his  report  to  Dr. 
William  H.  Maxwell,  city  superintendent  of 
schools  of  New  York,  July  30,  1904,  says: — 

In  compliance  with  your  request,  I  beg  leave 
to  submit  hereunder  a  few  memoranda  and  sug¬ 
gestions  concerning  the  teachers’  retirement  fund, 
and  the  efforts  of  the  board  of  superintendents  to 
keep  within  reasonable  bounds  the  practice  of  ex¬ 
cusing  teachers’  absences  without  pay, — efforts 
which  while  resisting  the  impairment  of  said  fund. 


12 


reduced  to  a  minimum  the  hardships  which  deduc¬ 
tions  for  absence  bring  to  needy  and  deserving 
teachers. 

THE  ESTABLISHMENT  OF  THE  RETIREMENT  FUND 

During  many  successive  years,  thi  teachers  and 
the  educational  authorities  of  the  former  city  of 
New  York  endeavored  to  obtain  the  passage  of  a 
law  authouzing  the  retirement  of  principals  and 
teachers.  They  were  met  with  repeated  refusals 
because  of  the  added  financial  burden  which  the 
pioposcd  measure  would  entail  upon  the  tax¬ 
payers.  In  1394,  however,  it  was  suggested  that  a 
retirement  fund  might  be  formed  if  all  moneys  for¬ 
feited  by  teachers  for  absences  were  set  aside,  and 
made  the  nucleus  of  such  a  fund.  As  most  of  the 
absences  of  teachers  are  caused  by  personal  illness, 
it  will  seem  strange  that  the  suggestion  was 
originated  bv  the  teachers  themselves,  and  was 
adopted  by  the  state  legislature,  to  establish  the 
basis  of  the  fund  with  moneys  taken  from  the  sick, 
rather  than  with  small  voluntary  pro  rata  contribu¬ 
tions  from  teachers  in  sound  health.  Nevertheless, 
the  suggestion  took  legal  shape,  and  Chapter  296 
of  the  Laws  of  1894  was  the  result.  In  the  follow¬ 
ing  year,  the  Brooklyn  teachers  adopted  a  wiser 
and  more  humane  plan  of  a  uniform  pro  rata  con¬ 
tribution  from  all  teachers  who  wished  to  partici¬ 
pate  eventually  in  the  benefit  of  a  retirement  fund. 
The  Brooklyn  teachers,  with  few  exceptions,  sup¬ 
ported  the  suggestion,  and  the  legislature  enacted 
into  law  Chapter  656,  Laws  of  1895. 

In  1902  the  retirement  fund  of  the  former  city  of 
New  York  was  merged  with  the  Brooklyn  fund, 
the  pro  rata  contributions  of  the  Brooklyn  teachers 
(which  amounted  to  one  per  centum  of  the  salaries) 
were  discontinued,  and  the  more  objectionable 
method  was  adopted  of  covering  into  the  retire¬ 
ment  fund  much  of  the  money  deducted  mainly 


13 


from  sick  absentee  teachers.  It  is  important  to 
note,  however,  that  large  sums  are  continually  re¬ 
funded  to  sick  absentee  teachers,  owing  to  the  en¬ 
richment  of  the  retirement  fund  with  statutory 
contributions  from  the  city  excise  income.  For  the 
past  few  rears,  more  than  $250,000  a  year  has  been 
thus  obtained.  But  for  this  excise  contribution,  the 
fund  would  have  become  exhausted  owing  to  the 
rapid  increase  of  the  number  of  annuitants. 

It  will  be  of  interest  to  observe  the  growth  of 
the  outgo  of  the  fund  since  its  establishment,  and 
to  note  the  rate  at  which  the  number  of  annuitants 
has  been  increasing.  On  these  points  information 
has  been  sought  of  the  auditor,  who  presents  the 
following  exhibit : — 


PAYMENTS  TO  ANNUITANTS. 


Year 

Manhattan  and 

Brooklyn. 

Queens. 

Richmond. 

Total 

the  Bronx. 

1SH9 

§102,686  IS 

$20,838  0) 

§123,524  18 

1900 

173,233  94 

36,408  92 

209,702  86 

1901 

208,594  81 

64,416  93 

§1,100  00 

274,386  74 

1902 

255,708  39 

83,886  18 

207  17 

§3,320  39 

313,117  13 

1903 

307,057  51 

108,272  94 

660  00 

4,036  54 

420,026  99 

NUMBER  OF  ANNUITANTS,  JANUARY  31. 


Year.  Manhattan  and  Brooklyn.  Queens.  Richmond.  Total, 

the  Bronx 


1992 

316 

102 

3 

421 

1903 

390 

126 

1 

5 

522 

1904 

434 

167 

1 

1 

609 

The  auditor  says:  'This  is  all  the  information 
that  is  readily  obtainable,  for  the  reason  that  this 
office  was  first  established  in  the  year  1898,  and, 
consequently,  the  first  complete  record  we  have  is 
for  the  year  1899.  From  1899  to  1902,  statements 
of  amounts  paid  to  Brooklyn  annuitants  are  not 
obtainable  in  detail  from  the  records  of  this  bureau, 
for  the  reason  that  the  Brooklyn  school  board, 
through  its  secretary,  was  the  custodian  of  the  said 
funds  for  that  borough.  I,  therefore,  have  been 
unable  to  provide  you  with  the  total  number  of 
teachers  on  the  pay-roll  prior  to  the  year  1902.” 


14 


RAPID  GROWTH  OF  THE  NUMBER  OF  ANNUI¬ 
TANTS. 

It  is  highly  probable  that  the.  recent  remarkably 
rapid  increase  in  the  number  of  annuitants  is  con¬ 
siderably  in  excess  of  the  normal  rate,  owing 
largely  to  the  fact  that  during  the  formative  period 
of  the  retirement  project,  a  vast  number  of  super¬ 
annuated  teachers  had  been  accumulated  in  the  sys¬ 
tem,  who  were  financially  unable  to  give  up  their 
positions,  and  whom  the  board  of  education  felt 
disinclined  to  force  out  of  the  schools. 

DEATH  RATE  OF  ANNUITANTS. 

The  following  table  shows  the  mortality  among 

the  annuitants  for  the  past  nine  years: — 

1895  ’90  ’97  ’98  ’99  1900  ’01  ’02  ’03 

2  2  1  8  8  9  7  12  13 

PRECAUTIONS  AGAINST  DIMINUTION  OF  THE 

FUND. 

The  increment  to  the  retirement  fund  from  ex¬ 
cise  moneys  is  a  precarious  item.  It  is  liable  to 
diminish.  Care  should  be  taken  to  put  the  retire¬ 
ment  fund  on  a  basis  that  will  involve  no  uncer¬ 
tainty  in  the  provision  for  the  permanent  care  of 
the  superannuated  teachers.  In  the  annual  re¬ 
port  of  the  city  superintendent  for  the  school  year 
1901-02  it  was  urged  that  a  slight  pro  rata  levy 
should  be  made  on  teachers’  salaries  for  the  benefit 
of  the  fund;  and  with  practical  unanimity  the 
teachers’  organizations  throughout  the  city  gave 
generous  support,  last  winter,  to>  a  bill  designed 
among  other  things  toi  amend  the  charter  in  that 
particular,  by  authorizing  an  annual  levy  of  one 
per  centum  of  salaries,  which  would  yield  a  yearly 
increment  of  about  $135,000.  Greater  refunds  for 
teachers’  absences  would  have  become  feasible, if 
the  bill  had  been  enacted  into  law.  Unfortunately, 
the  bill  failed  of  passage — a  circumstance  worthy  of 
note  when  we  bear  in  mind  that  it  proposed  to  add 


nothing  to  the  tax  levy,  and  to  make  the  teachers 
take  a  larger  part  than  ever  in  augmenting  and 
maintaining  a  fund  for  their  own  eventual  benefit. 

The  following  is  an  exhibit  of  the  annual  aug¬ 
mentations  of  the  fund  since  1899: — 


RECEIPTS 


TO  RETIREMENT 
BOROUGHS. 


FUND— ALL 


Excise  Deductions  Unclaimed 

Year  Moneys,  less  Refunds.  Interest.  Donation.  Annuities.  Total. 

1899  $269,094  83  $106,374  23  $5,744  53  $381,213  59 

1900  266,859  37  131,073  86  397,933  23 

1901  265,853  18  200,883  04  25,975  11  492,711  32 

1902  262,066  04  146,703  70  13,583  81  422,353  55 

1903  265,917  78  160,635  67  41,306  77  $300  00  $9,122  09  477,282  31 

The  following  table  gives  the  yearly  differences 
between  the  income  and  the  outgo  of  the  fund,  for 
the  years  indicated:— 


Year. 

1899 

1900 

1901 

1902 

1903 


Surplus  Balance. 
$257,689  41 
188.230  37 
218,324  58 
79,236  42 
57,255  32 


It  is  manifest  from  the  foregoing  exhibit  that  the 
yearly  differences  between  the  income  and  the 
outgo  of  the  fund  are  fast  dwindling,  a  circum¬ 
stance  which,  as  already  intimated,  is  due  tO'  the 
rapid  increase  in  the  number  of  annuitants,  and  to 
the  persistent  pressure  that  is  exerted  on  behalf  of 
absentees  to  drain  the  retirement  fund. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  balance  for  each  com¬ 
ing  year  will  continue  to  be  a  surplus  and  not  a 
deficit.  This  hope  should  be  kept  in  view,  what¬ 
ever  plan  of  refunds  may  be  devised. 


AMOUNT  OF  EXPERIENCE  PREREQUISITE  TO 

RETIREMENT. 

The  minimum  service  which  is  one  of  the  pre¬ 
requisites  to  retirement  has  been  fixed  by  the 
charter  at  thirty  years,  at  least  twenty  of  which 
must  have  been  in  the  public  schools  of  the  city  of 
New  York.  It  sometimes  happens  that  teachers  of 
less  than  thirty  years’  experience  become  wholly 
incapacitated  for  further  school  service.  The  prob¬ 
lem  of  withdrawing  such  teachers  from  the  class- 


16 


room  without  removing-  them  for  inefficiency  pre¬ 
sents  grave  difficulties.  Obviously  the  city  cannot 
afford  to  retire  such  teachers  on  the  same  terms  as 
teachers  of  thirty  years'  experience,  nor  is  it  pos¬ 
sible  to  give  pensions,  however  small,  to  teachers 
whose  experience  has  covered  only  a  few  years. 
To  fix,  in  the  case  of  such  teachers,  a  minimum  ex¬ 
perience  as  an  indispensable  prerequisite  to  retire¬ 
ment  on  a  fractional  stipend,  is  the  problem  which 
must  be  solved.  One  of  the  suggestions  laid  be¬ 
fore  the  last  legislature  was  designed  to  meet  this 
difficulty  by  providing  for  such  teachers  after,  say, 
eighteen  years  of  experience,  annuities  propor¬ 
tioned  to  their  years  of  service. 

RATIO  OF  ANNUITY  TO  SALARY. 

Owing  to  the  piecemeal  development  of  the  laws 
authorizing  the  establishment  and  maintenance  of 
the  retirement  fund,  there  has  been  a  dispropor¬ 
tion  among  the  various  annuities  paid  to  teachers 
whose  antecedent  services  had  been  equal  in  length 
and  character.  In  the  police  and  fire  departments 
of  the  city,  the  annuity  is  fixed  by  law  at  half  the 
salary  received  immediately  prior  to  retirement. 
Moreover,  any  member  of  either  of  said  depart¬ 
ments  who  has  attained  the  age  of  fifty-five  and 
has  been  in  the  service  twenty-five  years,  can  de¬ 
mand  retirement ;  and  to  all  others,  retirement  is 
possible,  if  they  are  incapacitated.  Teachers  must 
serve  some  years  longer  than  a  policeman  before 
they  can  be  retired,  and  if  they  have  attained  to  a 
principal’s  position  cannot,  in  the  case  of  men,  ob¬ 
tain  an  annuity  on  more  than  a  forty  per  cent, 
basis.  Furthermore,  no  principal  or  teacher,  how¬ 
ever  advanced  in  years,  can,  after  services  however 
lengthy,  compel  his  retirement,  whereas  policemen 
and  firemen  can  after  a  certain  amount  of  service 
make  such  demand  as  of  right. 

It  needs  no  deep  insight  to  note  that  the  profes¬ 
sional  training  of  a  man  principal  and  the  tax  on 


17 


his  mental  and  physical  powers  bring  him  at  the 
time  of  retirement  to  a  status  quite  as  worthy  of 
public  recognition  as  is  the  condition  of  a  police 
inspector  on  the  eve  of  retirement.  The  latter  is 
retired  on  an  annuity  of  $3,000.  The  former,  at 
$1,500. 

The  ratio  of  annuity  to  salary  should,  in  my 
judgment,  be  not  less  than  fifty  per  cent.  In  the 
normal  and  the  city  colleges,  where  no  contribu¬ 
tions  of  absence  money  or  other  money  are  made 
by  the  teaching  staff  to  the  retirement  fund,  the 
ratio  of  annuity  exceeds  fifty,  and,  in  some  cases, 
may  be  as  high  as  eighty  per  cent.  In  said  institu¬ 
tions,  the  hours  of  work  are  fewer,  and  the  strain 
involved  in  the  discipline  of  large  classes  materially 
lighter,  than  in  the  elementary  schools.  In  the 
national  government  service,  I  am  informed,  dis¬ 
criminations  as  to  annuity  status  are  not  made 
among  the  retiring  officers,  all  of  whom  are  treated 
alike.  The  Argentine  confederation  pays  to  its 
principal  teachers,  after  twenty  years  of  service, 
annuities  on  a  hundred  per  cent,  basis,  the  teacher 
retiring  at  the  full  salary  received  immediately 
prior  to  retirement. 

There  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  when  all 
teachers  alike  shall  make  proportionate  contribu- 
lions  to  the  fund,  the  legislature  will,  in  the  inter¬ 
ests  of  efficiency  as  well  as  of  financial  economy, 
see  the  advisability  of  placing  all  teachers,  princi¬ 
pals,  and  members  of  the  supervising  staff  on  an 
equal  footing  as  to  the  ratio  of  salary  to  annuity. 

ECONOMY  IN  THE  EXPENSE  OF  RETIREMENTS. 

It  is  susceptible  of  demonstration  that  a  sum 
equal  to  almost  all  the  money  expended  on  an¬ 
nuitants  is  saved  by  employing  new'  teachers  to  fill 
the  vacancies  so  created  at  approximately  half  the  • 
salaries  of  the  outgoing  annuitants.  A  woman 
teacher  receiving  a  $1,240  salary  is  retired  at  $020, 
and  the  vacancy  thereby  created  is  filled  by  a  new 


18 


teacher  at  a  $600  salary,  the  first,  and  a  $640  salary, 
the  second  year.  During  the  two  years  following 
said  retirement,  there  is  no  increased  expenditure 
involved  in  the  retirement. 

It  may  be  objected  that  with  the  lapse  of  years 
the  new  woman  employee’s  salary,  increasing  an¬ 
nually  by  $40,  will  heighten  the  expense.  A  par¬ 
tial  answer  will  be  found  in  the  fact  that  of  all  the 
annuitants  who  died  during  the  ten  years  ending 
December  31,  1903,  the  average  annuitant  life  was 
only  a  trifle  over  three  years. 

Computations  of  the  cost  of  retiring  men  princi¬ 
pals  in  receipt  of  the  maximum  salary  show  that  in 
their  case,  as  well  as  in  most  others,  there  will  for 
several  succeeding  years  be  relatively  small  added 
cost  involved  in  their  retirement.  The  slight  effect 
on  the  whole  salary  budget  may  be  estimated  by 
noting  that  the  entire  number  of  annuitants  is  less 
than  six  per  cent,  of  the  total  number  of  teachers. 

DISSATISFACTION  WITH  THE  LAW  CURTAILING 

REFUNDS. 

Scarcely  had  the  board  of  education  begun  to 
put  into  operation  the  provisions  of  the  law  requir¬ 
ing  forfeitures  of  money  for  absence,  when  criticism 
of  the  law  arose.  Hardly  a  teacher  who  lost  any 
part,  of  his  pay  for  absence  could  be  found  to  sym¬ 
pathize  with  the  law,  the  passage  of  which  the 
teachers  had  done  so  much  to  promote.  The 
teachers  who  lose  money  for  absence  are  in  close 
touch  with  the  local  boards  whose  members  have 
in  some  instances  lost  sight  of  the  spirit  of  the  law, 
and — possibly  through  a  mistaken  sympathy — have 
given  wholesale  approval  to  applications  for  ex¬ 
cuse  of  absence  with  pay.  A  circumstance  which 
unfortunately  left  room  for  the  unbridled  exercise 
of  this  power  to  excuse  absences  with  pay  was  the 
fact  that  the  restrictions  which  the  board  of  edu¬ 
cation  had  in  its  by-laws  imposed  on  grants  of  re¬ 
funds  were  so  slight  that  probably  ninety  per  cent. 


19 


of  all  the  moneys  representing  teachers’  absences 
could  tinder  said  by-laws  be  refunded,  and  only  ten 
per  cent,  of  those  moneys  would  be  saved  to<  the 
retirement  fund,  if  refunds  were  made  up  to  the 
limits  fixed  by  the  by-laws.  Upon  the  board  of 
superintendents  devolved  the  ungracious  task  of 
laying  further  restrictions  on  refunds  so  as  to 
divert  annually  to  the  retirement  fund  a  sum  which, 
with  the  excise  increment,  would  raise  the  fund  to 
not  less  than  its  outgo  for  the  year.  These  addi¬ 
tional  restrictions  were*  not  all  imposed  at  once,  but 
were  developed  as  they  became  necessary.  They 
were  mainly  as  follows: — 

(1)  Only  teachers  who  suffered  from  a  long 
and  serious  illness  could  be  excused.  This  rule 
had  long  been  in  force  in  the  former  city  of  New 
York.  The  local  boards  in  several  instances  de¬ 
manded  as  a  courtesy  that  the  time  limits  of  a 
“long”  illness  be  fixed  by  the  board  of  superintend¬ 
ents.  The  latter  board  thereupon  fixed  such  limits 
at  five  consecutive  school  days.  Much  hostile 
criticism  of  this  rule  followed.  It  was  charged  that 
it  put  a  premium  on  dishonesty  by  inducing  a 
teacher  ill  four  days  (whose  excuse  was  barred  by 
the  rule)  to  absent  himself  a  fifth  dav  in  order  to 
gain  the  refund.  Not  once  while  this  same  rule 
was  in  force  in  the  former  city  of  New  York  did  any 
local  board  or  school  officer — so  far  as  is  known — ■ 
make  this  criticism.  The  dignity  of  the  teaching 
profession  would  seem  to  require  that  this'  criticism 
be  not  emphasized. 

(2)  Teachers  of  less  than  three  years’  experi¬ 

ence  were  excluded  from  the  benefits  of  refunds. 
For  the  adoption  of  this  rule,  two  reasons  were 
urged,  viz.:  (a)  Three  years  is  the  probation  term 
required  for  a  permanent  license ;  (b)  Many 

teachers  who  enter  the  profession  do  not  remain  in 
the  public  school  service  after  three  years. 

(3)  As  a  general  thing,  a  teacher  was  not  granted 


20 


a  refund  who,  during  the  three  years  immediately 
preceding  his  application,  had  been  absent  more 
than  thirty  days. 

(4)  Refunds  when  the  absent  teacher  was  in 
court  were  confined  to  cases  in  which  the  schools 
were  involved,  and  the  teacher  was  defendant. 

(5)  In  certain  cases,  refunds  for  absence  caused 
by  quarantine  were  in  part  withheld. 

(6)  During  portions  of  the  past  two  years,  re¬ 
funds  were  given  only  in  part  to  teachers  who,  long 
since,  accomplished  the  age  and  experience  pre¬ 
requisite  to  retirement. 

Owing  to  the  extreme  difficulty  involved  in  con¬ 
sidering  individual  cases  on  their  respective  special 
merits,  the  tendency  on  the  part  of  the  board  of 
suoerintendents  has  been  to  establish  rules  cover- 
ing  as  many  classes  of  fairly  distinguishable  cases 
as  possible,  to  the  ends  that  little  or  no  room  might 
be  left  for  discrimination  or  for  the  exercise  of  dis¬ 
cretionary  power,  and  that  all  applications  might  be 
disposed  of  in  accordance  with  pre-established 
rules.  The  board  of  superintendents  is  now  con¬ 
sidering  a  further  series  of  rules  for  its  guidance  in 
taking  action  upon  applications  for  refunds. 

RECOMMENDATIONS. 

“With  a  view  to  the  maintenance  of  the  fund,  I 
would  suggest: — 

“(1)  That  for  the  grant  of  absence  with  pay  no 
regulation  should  be  adopted  which  would  render 
necessary  a  raid  on  the  relatively  small  surplus  of 
previous  years  that  is  now  in  the  fund. 

“(2)  That  rules  governing  refunds  should  be  so 
constructed  as  to  result  in  annually  turning  into  the 
fund  a  percentage  more  than  sufficient  to  meet  ob¬ 
ligations  for  the  current  year.  It  is  possible  that 
a  day  will  come  when  the  excise  increment  plus 
the  whole  amount  forfeited  for  absences  will, be 
barely  sufficient  to  meet  the  current  obligations  of 
the  pension  pay-roll,  and,  in  that  event,  refunds  will 


21 


not  be  possible.  Care  should  be  taken,  therefore, 
so  to  limit  excuses  with  pay  for  absence  as  to  hold 
the  fund  at  or  above  par  for  each  year. 

“(3)  At  the  next  session  of  the  legislature, 
Section  1092  of  the  Charter  should  be  amended  by 
the  incorporation  of  the  following  outlined  provi¬ 
sions  : — 

“(a)  A  clause  providing  for  the  monthly  deduc¬ 
tions  of  one  per  centum  from  the  salaries  of  all 
teachers,  professors,  and  others  who  under  the  ex¬ 
isting  provisions  of  said  section  will,  in  due  season, 
be  eligible  for  retirement.  Although  the  tenure  of 
the  superintendent  and  certain  other  members  of 
the  supervising  staff  is  not  as  secure  as  that  of  the 
rank  and  file  of  the  teaching  profession,  and  al¬ 
though  said  officials  are  not  liable  to  forfeiture  of 
salary  for  temporary  absence  from  duty,  neverthe¬ 
less,  they  would,  almost  to  a  man,  be  glad  of  such 
an  opportunity  to  pay  in  common  with  all  teachers 
a  proportionate  share  of  their  salaries  into  the  re- 
lirement  fund. 

“(b)  A  measure  similar  to  that  outlined  on  page 
110  of  the  annual  report  (New  York)  for  the  school 
year  1901-02,  providing  for  fractional  annuities  to 
incapacitated  teachers  of  at  least  fifteen  years’  ex¬ 
perience. 

“(c)  A  clause  placing  upon  annuities  the  same 
safeguards  that  are  thrown  around  the  pensions  of 
retired  policemen  and  firemen.” 

In  pursuance  of  the  plan  of  stating  precisely 
what  the  terms  of  the  best  retirement  fund  law  for 
teachers  are,  and  how  this  law  works,  it  has  been 
deemed  wise  to  study  in  some  detail  the  evolution 
of  the  law.  Most,  if  not  all,  of  the  recommenda¬ 
tions  made  as  ?bove  in  Associate  Superintendent 
O’Brien’s  article  have  now  been  embodied  in  the 
New  York  law.  From  a  careful  consideration  of 
the  conditions  in  New  York  it  may  be  very  fairly 
inferred  that  no  other  large  city  in  the  United 


22 


States  has  difficulties  in  the  way  of  similar  legisla¬ 
tion  any  more  formidable  than  were  those  over¬ 
come  by  the  teachers  of  New  York.  The  great 
secret  of  the  New  York  teachers’  magnificent  tri¬ 
umph  consists  not  only  in  the  high  character, 
extraordinary  ability,  diplomatic  skill,  and  self- 
sacrificing  devotion  of  all  the  promoters  of  the 
plan,  but  in  that  enlightened  harmony  of  action 
which  is  so  conducive  to  the  best  results. 

Although  abundant  illustrations  of  pension  legis¬ 
lation  may  be  drawn  from  the  educational  history  of 
Great  Britain,  France,  Germany,  and  other  Euro¬ 
pean  countries,  as  well  as  from  several  South 
American  countries,  it  has  seemed  wise,  for  the 
present,  at  least,  to  confine  the  discussion  to  illus¬ 
trations  taken  from  our  own  country,  on  the 
ground  that  the  conditions  prevalent  in  other 
states  of  the  United  States  are  more  likely  to  re¬ 
semble  those  existing  in  any  American  community 
than  are  the  conditions  in  foreign  countries.  It  is 
with  great  pleasure,  then,  that  credit  is  given  the 
National  Educational  Association  “Report  of  the 
Committee  on  Salaries,  Tenure,  and  Pensions  of 
Public  School  Teachers  in  the  United  States” 
(July,  1905)  for  the  following  facts  more  or  less 
summarized,  and  with  additional  notes  and  com¬ 
ments  : — 

(1)  Massachusetts  has  made  a  beginning  by 
allowing  the  teachers  of  the  city  of  Boston  to  form 
a  retirement  fund,  which  thus  far  makes  possible 
the  payment  of  $180  per  annum  to  annuitants. 
Under  section  IX.  of  the  Massachusetts  law  it  is 
provided  that  “no  annuity  shall  be  paid  to  any 
teacher  until  such  teacher  shall  contribute,  or  has 
contributed,  to  the  general  fund  a  sum  equal  to  all 
the  assessments  for  thirty  years,  to  wit,  five  hundred 
and  forty  dollars.”  Section  VI.  provides  that 
teachers  shall  not  receive  an  annuity,  unless  they 


have  taught  thirty  years,  ten  of  which  years  must 
have  been  spent  in  the  day  schools  of  Boston. 

Section  VII.  provides  for  incapacitated  teachers. 

Section  VIII.  provides  for  uniform  annuities. 

Section  X.  provides  for  a  partial  refunding  of 
contributions  to  teachers  “who  shall  retire  from  the 
service  of  the  city  of  Boston  not  being  in  receipt  of 
an  annuity; ”  The  fund  of  the  Boston  Teachers’ 
Retirement  Fund  Association  has  been  managed 
with  great  skill  by  the  trustees,  and  now  amounts 
to  $155,834.08.  The  number  of  annuitants,  accord¬ 
ing  to  the  last  report,  is  seventy-three. 

Athough  the  sum  of  $180  per  annum,  when  com¬ 
pared  with  the  liberal  annuities  paid  the  teachers  of 
greater  New  York,  seems  small,  still  as  a  beginning 
of  an  annuity  system,  and  as  a  hint  of  better  times 
to  come,  it  is  highly  encouraging.  Experience  has 
shown  beyond  cavil  or  doubt  that  unusual  care 
must  be  exercised  in  doing  full  justice  not  only  to 
the  annuitants  of  the  present,  but  to  those  of  the 
future.  Therefore,  conservatism  on  the  part  of  the 
chosen  guardians  of  sacred  trust  funds  cannot  be 
too  highly  commended. 

New  Jersey  in  Article  XXVII.  of  its  school  law 
provides  for  a  retirement  fund  from  which  annuities 
ranging  from  a  minimum  of  $250  to  a  maximum  of 
$000  are  paid.  A  peculiar  and,  to  my  mind,  an  ob¬ 
jectionable  feature  of  the  method  of  providing  for 
the  fund  is  the  practice  of  compelling  even  the 
annuitants  to  contribute  one  per  centum  of  their 
modest  annuities. 

The  Ohio  law  of  1904  makes  the  following  pro¬ 
visions  for  a  retirement  fund: — 

“Any  board  which  has  created  or  shall  hereafter 
create  a  teachers’  pension  fund  shall  pay  into  such 
fund  all  deductions,  fines,  penalties,  and  assess¬ 
ments  made  against  teachers  or  other  employees  of 
the  board.  Such  board  may  also  pay  to  such  pen- 


24 


sion  fund  not  to  exceed  2  per  cent,  of  the  amount 
raised  by  the  board  from  taxation.’’ 

An  extremely  interesting  detail,  of  this  pension 
legislation  is  the  phrase  “or  other  employees  of  the 
board/’’  Jt  may  well  be  the  fact  that  certain  “other 
employees  of  the  board”  are  in  some  instances  so 
closely  connected  with  the  work  of  the  schools 
that  they  might  well  come  under  the  provisions  of 
any  law  intended  to  secure  an  adequate  fund  for 
teachers’  retirement.  Ohio  in  1906  made  appropri¬ 
ations  for  teachers’  pensions  compulsory  instead 
of  permissive. 

The  Illinois  law  of  1895  is  as  follows,  including 
the  amendment  of  1901: — 

“That  the  board  of  education  in  cities  having  a 
population  exceeding  100,000  inhabitants  shall 
have  power,  and  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  said  board, 
to  create  a  public  school  teachers’  and  public 
school  employees’  pension  and  retirement  fund,  and 
for  that  purpose  shall  set  apart  the  following 
money,  to  wit:  (1)  An  amount  not  exceeding  one 
per  cent,  per  annum  of  the  respective  salaries  paid 
to  teachers  and  school  employees  elected  by  such 
board  of  education,  which  amount  shall  be  deducted 
in  equal  instalments  from  the  said  salaries  at  the 
regular  time  for  the  payment  of  such  salaries;  (2) 
all  moneys  received  from  donations,  legacies,  gifts, 
bequests,  or  otherwise,  on  account  of  said  fund ; 
(3)  all  moneys  which  mav  be  derived  from  any 
and  all  sources:  Provided,  however,  that  no  tax 
shall  ever  be  levied  for  said  fund ;  (4)  any  public 
school  teacher  or  public  school  employee,  a  part  of 
whose  salary  is  now  or  may  hereafter  be  set  apart 
to  provide  for  the  fund  herein  created  by  this  act, 
may  be  released  from  the  necessities  of  making 
further  payments  to  said  fund  by  filing  a  written 
notice  of  his  or  her  desire  to  withdraw  from  com¬ 
plying  with  the  provisions  of  this  act  with  said 
board  of  trustees,  which  said  resignation  shall  oper- 


25 


ate  and  go  into  effect  immediately  upon  its  receipt 
by  said  board  of  trustees.” 

As  no  chain  is  stronger  than  its  weakest  link,  the 
Illinois  legislation  in  view  of  section  (4)  cannot  be 
regarded  as  particularly  strong  when  compared 
with  the  virile  legislation  of  New  York.  There  is 
excellent  ground  for  supposing  that  any  clause  in 
pension  legislation  which  will  release  members  of 
the  association  at  will  must  result  in  failure.  Such 
teachers  as  are  unwilling  to  make  prolonged  sacri¬ 
fice  for  the  general  good  of  a  Retirement  Fund 
Association,  and  for  the  uplift  and  dignity  of  the 
profession,  are  not  fit  candidates  for  membership 
either  in  the  association  or  in  the  profession. 

Another  objectionable  feature  of  the  Illi¬ 
nois  legislation  is  the  provision  “that  no  tax 
shall  ever  be  levied  for  said  fund.”  It  would 
be  just  as  reasonable  to  argue  that  no  tax 
should  ever  be  levied  to  meet  any  other  of 
the  obligations  of  states,  counties,  cities,  and 
towns.  It  cannot  be  repeated  too'  often  that 
teachers  are  asking  not  for  charity,  not  foe  a 
gratuity,  but  for  legislation  to  secure  for  them 
now  and  forever  a  small  portion  of  their  righteous 
dues,  and,  furthermore,  to  secure  those  dues  in 
such  a  manner  as  will  improve  the  public  service 
in  the  department  of  education,  and  will  result  in 
the  return  of  a  thousand  fold  of  all  money  ex¬ 
pended  for  such  a  purpose,  in  consequence  of  the 
elevation  of  the  teachers’  profession,  and  the  conse¬ 
quent  benefits  to  the  pupils  and  the  state. 

California  provides  for  “a  permanent  and  an  an¬ 
nuity  fund*”  by  the  law  of  1895,  amended  in.  1897 
and  1901.  Baltimore,  St.  Louis,  Cincinnati,  Cleve¬ 
land,  Detroit,  Chicago,  Buffalo,  .San  Francisco, 
and  St.  Paul  have  “voluntary  mutual  benefit  asso¬ 
ciations  for  temporary  aid  only.”  One  interstate 
association  is  also  in  existence.  Massachusetts  has 
an  Annuitv  Guild.  Boston  has,  besides  the  Retire- 


26 


ment  Fund  Association,  the  Teachers’  Mutual 
Benefit  Association.  -  Baltimore  has  an  annuity 
association.  Cincinnati,  Philadelphia,  Brooklyn, 
and  the  District  of  Columbia  have  “associations 
both  for  temporary  aid  and  annuity.” 

Miss  Catherine  Gpggin,  in  her  able  report  to  the 
N.  E.  A.  Committee  on  Salaries,  Tenure,  and  Pen¬ 
sions,  shows  that  onlv  three  cities  in  the  United 
States  have  anything  that  can  justly  be  called  a 
pension  system.  These  three  cities  are  New  York, 
whose  system  has  been  fully  described,  Detroit,  and 
San  Francisco.  The  plans  in  operation  in  Chicago, 
Charleston,  S.  C.,  Jersey  City,  Philadelphia,  Bos¬ 
ton,  Norwich,  Conn.,  and  elsewhere,  although  inter¬ 
esting  attempts  in  the  direction  of  providing  for 
superannuated  teachers,  and  although  highly  valu¬ 
able  as  furnishing  experience  and  results  to  be 
used  in  the  framing  of  future  legislation,  cannot  be 
regarded  as  anything  like  genuine  pension  systems. 

“Detroit  has  a  permanent  fund  consisting  of 
gifts,  legacies,  etc. ;  moneys  appropriated  by  the 
board  of  education  or  raised  by  approval  of  the 
common  council  and  board  of  estimates ;  tuition 
fees  of  non-resident  pupils ;  interest  on  daily  bal¬ 
ances  of  moneys  appropriated  for  teachers’  salaries  ; 
monevs  which  trustees  of  the  retirement  fund  may 
transfer  from  the  great  fund.  Interest  on  this  fund 
must  be  turned  over  to  the  general  fund,  and  used 
in  payment  of  annuities.  No  other  portion  of  the 
permanent  fund  may  be  so  used.  The  general  fund 
consists  of  deductions  from  salaries  of  teachers,  not 
less  than  one  per  cent,  nor  more  than  three  per 
cent. ;  no  deduction  made  on  a  basis  of  more  than 
$1,00*0;  income  from  interest  of  said  general  fund; 
all  moneys  deducted  from  teachUs’  salaries  for  ab¬ 
sence  or  for  any  cause;  all  moneys  intended  for  the 
retirement  fund,  and  not  left  specifically  to  the 
permanent  fund.  The  board  of  trustees  consists 
of  the  president  of  the  board  of  education,  the  presi- 


dent  pro  tern,  of  the  board  of  education,  the  chair¬ 
man  of  the  committee  on  teachers  and  schools,  of 
the  board  of  education ;  the  superintendent  of  city 
schools,  and  three  teachers  in  the  city  schools 
elected  from  contributors  to  the  retirement  fund  by 
ballot,  as  the  board  of  trustees  shall  prescribe,  for  a 
term  of  three  years,  one  teacher  being  elected  each 
year. 

“The  funds  are  in  the  hands  of  the  treasurer  of 
the  board  of  education.  The  amount  to  be  deducted 
from  salaries  is  determined  by  the  board  of  educa- 
•  tion  on  the  recommendation  of  the  board  of  trus¬ 
tees.  The  permanent  fund  is  administered  and  in¬ 
vested  by  the  board  of  education  in  the  name  of  the 
board  of  trustees.  The  board  of  trustees  may  pro¬ 
vide  for  donors  to  the  permanent  fund  an  honorary 
membership  on  the  board  without  power  to  vote. 
In  case  of  the  discontinuance  of  the  retirement  fund 
all  moneys  appropriated  therefor  from  funds  of 
the  board  of  education  (tuition  of  non-resident 
pupils,  deductions  for  absence,  and  interest  on  sal¬ 
ary  fund)  revert  to  the  teachers’  salary  fund.  When 
the  permanent  fund  has  reached  $100,000,  no  funds 
may  be  added  to  it  from  deductions  for  absence  or 
interest  on  the  salary  fund,  except  by  a  two-thirds 
vote  of  the  board  of  education. 

“The  term  of  service  entitling  to>  pension  is  thirty 
years,  of  which  twenty  years  must  be  in  Detroit,  or 
twenty-five  years  in  schools  of  Detroit  render  a 
teacher  eligible  on  application.  Teachers  in¬ 
capacitated  for  duty,  having  taught  twenty  years, 
ten  in  Detroit,  my  be  retired  by  a  two-thirds  vote 
of  the  board  of  trustees.  Teachers  who<  resign  or 
are  removed  for  cause  may  apply  after  three 
months  for  such  a  portion  of  money  contributed  by 
them  as  the  trustees  shall  direct  to  be  paid,  not  to 
exceed  one-half  of  their  contributions.  Annuities 
are  not  to  exceed  $250.  Current  expenses  of  the 


28 


board  of  trustees  are  paid  from  a  maintenance  fund 
of  the  board  of  education. 

“In  Jersey  City  the  state  retirement  fund  is  sup¬ 
ported  entirely  by  percentage  contributions  from 
the  salaries  of  teachers  who  are  members.  The  an¬ 
nuity  is  half  the  average  salary  earned  during  the 
last  five  years  of  service,  but  cannot  exceed  $600. 
Any  teacher  who  has  taught  forty  years,  or  more, 
in  any  one  school  district  of  the  state  of  New 
Jersey,  must  be  retired  by  that  district,  should  he 
or  she  apply  for  retirement.  The  annuity  in  this 
case  is  one-half  of  the  last  annual  salary  paid. 

“In  San  Francisco,  the  fund  consists  of  assess¬ 
ments  of  $12  per  year  deducted  from  the  salaries 
of  day  teachers,  and  $6  per  year  from  the  salaries 
of  evening  school  teachers  receiving  less  than  $50 
per  month  ;  gifts,  and  legacies,  and  not  less  than 
half  of  the  sums  forfeited  by  absence.  The  perma¬ 
nent  fund  is  composed  of  25  per  cent,  of  all  moneys 
from  these  sources  to  the  amount  of  $50,000  and  of 
all  gifts  specifically  bequeathed.  The  fund  is  ad¬ 
ministered  by  a  commission  consisting  of  the 
mayor,  the  superintendent  of  schools,  and  the 
county  treasurer,  who  report  biennially  to  the 
supervisors.  The  retirement  committee  consists  of 
five  teachers,  one  at  least  from  primary,  and  one 
from  grammar  schools,  elected  for  three  years. 
The  term  of  service  is  thirty  years,  with  thirty 
years’  assessments.  The  amount  of  annuity  is  $50 
per  month.  A  proportionate  annuity  is  paid  to  in¬ 
capacitated  teachers  who  have  been  contributors  for 
at  least  five  years.  The  annuity  is  suspended  on 
return  to  public-school  teaching,  or  when  incapac¬ 
ity  ceases,  and  if  the  annuitant  has  received  a  sum 
which  has  reimbursed  for  his  or  her  contributions. 
There  is  a  provision  for  pro  rating.  Necessary  ex¬ 
penses  are  paid  from  the  fund.  All  annuities  cease 
if  the  annuitant  returns  to  the  profession  of  teach¬ 
ing/’ 


29 


Connecticut  furnishes  another  example  of  activ¬ 
ity  in  this  direction: — 

PROPOSED  TENURE  OF  OFFICE  LEGISLATION  FOR 

TEACHERS. 

‘‘A  sub-committee  of  the  board  of  education  at 
Waterbury,  Conn.,  has  formulated  a  bill  which  is  to 
be  submitted  to  the  next  session  of  the  legisla¬ 
ture  in  that  state,  and  which  is  designed  to  estab¬ 
lish  a  tenure  of  office  for  teachers.  The  measure 
provides  that  superintendents,  principals,  and 
teachers  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  board  of 
education,  who  have  been  in  the  service  for  a  mini¬ 
mum  of  three  years,  shall  not  be  dismissed  except 
for  cause.  Dismissal  can  then  be  effected  only  by 
a  two-thirds  vote  of  the  board.  The  three  years 
are  designed  to  be  a  probationary  period.  Under 
the  proposed  act  the  board  fixes  the  salaries,  which 
may  be  increased  from  time  to  time,  but  not  re¬ 
duced. 

“A  prominent  feature  of  the  measure  is  the  pro¬ 
vision  for  the  establishment  of  a  public  school 
teachers’  retirement  fund.  The  board  has  authority 
to  establish  the  fund,  which  shall  be  under  the 
charge  of  a  board  of  trustees,  of  which  the  city 
treasurer  shall  be  ex-officio  treasurer.  The  fund 
shall  be  composed  of  any  legacies  that  may  be  re¬ 
ceived  ;  of  moneys  deducted  from  teachers’  salaries 
as  the  result  of  lost  time;  and  of  an  assessment  of 
one  per  cent,  on  the  salaries  of  teachers.  The  gov¬ 
erning  board  shall  have  full  power  to  invest  the 
fund.  Detailed  provision  is  made  for  the  retire¬ 
ment,  by  the  board  of  education,  of  teachers  who 
have  been  in  the  service  a  specified  number  of 
years,  and  for  the  payment  of  annuities  to  them. 
Considerable  interest  has  developed  over  the  pro¬ 
posed  act  in  Waterbury.” 

From  these  illustrations  it  appears  that  New 
York  city  has  the  most  rational,  the  most  liberal, 
and  the  most  lasting  of  all  the  plans  now  in  force. 


30 


Any  city  which  intends  to  be  on  a  par  with  New 
York  in  the  treatment  of  its  teachers  will  be  under 
the  necessity  of  making  such  a  contribution  to  the 
teachers’  retirement  fund  as  will  enable  those  com¬ 
ing  under  the  provisions  of  the  act  to  retire  on 
half  pay. 

The  authorities  of  several  of  our  American 
universities  and  colleges  are  fully  aware  of  the 
necessity  of  this  great  plan  of  establishing  retire¬ 
ment  funds.  As  an  ingenious  writer  in  a  popular 
magazine  says  rather  bluntly: — 

‘‘The  moderate  income  of  most  professorships 
has  contributed  not  a  little  to  make  the  material- 
minded  Anglo-Saxon  despise  learning  and  science ; 
and  absence  of  proper  provision  for  old  age  added 
to  this  contempt.  The  professor  was  not  only 
earning  a  mere  pittance  in  comparison  with  his 
supposed  abilities ;  he  was  hanging  on  to  his  post 
long  after  he  had  ceased  to  be  able  to  perform  his 
duties  properly.” 

It  is  therefore  most  encouraging  to  learn  that 
Harvard,  Yale,  Columbia,  Cornell,  Amherst,  and 
perhaps  other  institutions  already  have  retirement 
funds,  while  other  universities  like  Chicago  and 
Brown  are  taking  steps  to  establish  such  funds. 
Let  us  take  the  plan  used  at  Harvard  as  a  type  of 
a  liberal  scheme.  President  Eliot  reports  that  this 
plan  is  entirely  satisfactory. 

SYSTEM  OF  RETIRING  ALLOWANCES  AT  HARVARD 

UNIVERSITY. 

The  following  rules  concerning  retiring  allow¬ 
ances  were  put  in  force  on  September  1,  1899: — 

1.  Anv  person  in  the  service  of  the  university 
and  sixty  years  of  age,  who  has  held  an  office  of 
the  grade  of  an  assistant  professorship,  or  of  a 
higher  grade,  for  twenty  years,  shall  be  entitled  to  a 
retiring  allowance  of  twenty-sixtieths  of  his  last 
annual  salary  in  activity,  and  to  an  additional 
allowance  of  one-sixtieth  of  his  last  annual  salary 


31 


for  each  year  of  service  in  addition  to  twenty ;  but 
no  retiring  allowance  shall  exceed  forty-sixtieths 
of  the  last  annual  salary  in  full  activity.  In  count¬ 
ing  years  of  additional  service,  years  of  continuous 
service  as  member  of  a  faculty  with  the  title  of 
tutor,  instructor,  or  lecturer,  or  as  assistant  in  a 
scientific  establishment  on  an  appointment  not  an¬ 
nual,  may  be  added,  at  the  discretion  of  the  presi¬ 
dent  and  fellows,  to  the  years  of  service  as  assist¬ 
ant  professor  or  in  a  higher  grade. 

2.  No  person  under  sixty  years  of  age  shad  be 
entitled  to  a  retiring  allowance;  but  the  president 
and  fellows  may  at  their  discretion  pay  to  any  per¬ 
son  who,  while  in  the  service  of  the  university,  has 
become  incapable  of  discharging  his  duties  by 
reason  of  permanent  infirmity  of  mind  or  body,  or 
has  resigned,  before  the  age  of  sixty,  an  allowance 
not  exceeding  that  which  he  would  be  entitled  to 
receive  under  Rule  1,  if  he  had  reached  the  age  of 
sixty. 

3.  No  person  who  has  been  in  the  service  of  the 
university  less  than  twenty  years  as  assistant  pro¬ 
fessor  or  at  a  higher  grade  shall  be  entitled  to  a  re¬ 
tiring  allowance ;  but  in  computing  the  retiring 
allowance  of  a  person  who  entered  the  service  of 
the  university,  as  a  professor  or  at  an  equal  grade, 
at  an  unusually  advanced  age,  the  president  and 
fellows  may  at  their  discretion  add  a  number  of 
years,  not  exceeding  ten,  to  his  actual  years  of  ser¬ 
vice  ;  and  such  a  person  may  be  granted  a  retiring 
allowance  as  soon  as  his  total  service,  including  the 
constructive  addition,  reaches  twenty  years. 

4.  Any  professor  or  officer  of  like  grade  en¬ 
titled  to  a  retiring  allowance,  who  with  the  consent 
of  the  president  and  fellows  shall  give  up  a  pa"t 
of  his  work  and  a  corresponding  part  of  his  salary, 
shall  have  a  right,  upon  his  partial  retirement,  to  a 
retiring  allowance  computed  under  Rule  1  upon 
that  part  of  his  full  salary  which  he  relinquishes; 


32 


and  upon  his  complete  retirement  his  allowance 
shall  be  computed  on  his  last  full  annual  salary,  and 
his  years  of  partial  retirement  shall  count  as  years 
of  service. 

5.  The  president  and  fellows  may,  in  the  ex¬ 
ercise  of  their  discretion,  retire  wholly  or  in  part 
any  professor  or  officer  of  like  grade,  who  has 
reached  the  age  of  sixty-six,  upon  the  retiring 
allowance  to  which  he  is  entitled. 

6.  In  the  preceding  sections,  years  of  leave  of 
absence  are  to  be  counted  as  years  of  active  ser¬ 
vice  ;  librarians,  assistant  librarians,  curators,  assist¬ 
ants  in  the  scientific  establishments,  and  adminis¬ 
trative  officers  of  long  tenure  whose  salaries  may 
be  classed  with  those  of  professors  or  assistant  pro¬ 
fessors  are  covered  by  the  phrases  “at  an  equal 
grade"  or  “of  like  grade” ;  and  the  “last  annual  sal¬ 
ary  in  full  activity"  means  the  hist  regular  salary  as 
professor,  excluding  annual  grants  and  extra  pay¬ 
ments. 

7.  The  president  and  fellows  retain  power  to 
alter  these  rules,  without,  however,  abridging  the 
rights  which  individuals  in  the  service  of  the  uni¬ 
versity  shall  have  acquired  under  them. 

8.  The  obligation  of  the  .president  and  fellows 
to  pay  retiring  allowances  will  be  neither  greater 
nor  less  than  their  obligation  to  pay  salaries ;  so 
that  if  misfortune  shall  compel  a  percentage  reduc¬ 
tion  of  salaries,  retiring  allowances  will  be  reduced 
in  the  same  proportion. 

That  there  are  any  valid  objections  whatsoever 
to  establishing  retirement  funds  for  teachers,  I  do 
not  believe.  And  yet,  in  presenting  a  compara¬ 
tively  new  subject,  it  is  well  to  consider  such 
specious  objections  as  may  be  offered. 

I  deem  it  wise  to  follow  this  course,  because  it  is 
evident  that  the  propositon  to  pay  teachers  pen¬ 
sions  is  absolutely  certain  to  meet  with  consider¬ 
able  opposition,  sometimes  from  quarters  where 


such  opposition  would  be  least  expected.  It  is  a 
part  of  wisdom,  then,  to  look  at  the  facts  and  con¬ 
ditions  as  they  are,  rather  than  as  the  visionary  or 
the  imaginative  may  picture  them.  Tn  correspond¬ 
ence  with  me  on  the  subject  of  teachers’  pensions, 
Charles  Francis  Adams  writes:  “I  am  distinctly  and 
emphatically  opposed  to  pensions  for  anyone,  ex¬ 
cept  for  soldiers  and  sailors  absolutely  incapacitated 
from  earning  their  own  living  bv  injuries  received 
in  actual  warfare.  The  whole  pension  system, 
when  it  once  gets  a  footing,  under  any  democratic 
form  of  government,  is  sure  to  extend  into  an  in¬ 
tolerable  abuse.  It  has  been  so  in  our  case,  to  an 
extent  which  is  difficult  to  exaggerate. 

“My  conviction  is  that  persons  in  public  employ 
should  be  paid  adequate  compensation.  Out  of 
this  they  should  make  their  own  provision  for  re¬ 
tirement  or  incapacity.  They  should  do  exactly  as 
they  do  in  private  life.  If  the  rate  of  compensation 
is  below  that  paid  in  ordinary  life,  it  should  be  in¬ 
creased  to  that  level.  The  community  then  knows 
what  it  is  paying;  the  employee  knows  what  he  is 
entitled  to  receive. 

“The  pension  system  Is,  in  my  judgment,  wrong 
in  principle  and  in  practice.  Moreover,  it  is  a  fraud. 
I  have  had  a  good  deal  to  do  with  it  myself  in  prac¬ 
tical  working  life,  and  I  never  yet  found  a  single 
man  or  woman  who  did  not  say  they  preferred  to 
receive  an  agreed  compensation  and  provide  for 
themselves,  rather  than  receive  less,  and  be  pro¬ 
vided  for  by  pension.  Neither,  will  I  add,  have  f 
ever  met  a  man  or  woman  who  did  not,  when  com¬ 
pensation  was  agreed  upon  on  the  above  basis, 
afterwards  turn  around  and  desire,  in  addition 
thereto,  to  receive  a  pension." 

Now.  whatever  we  may  think  of  Mr.  Adams's 
view  on  this  subject,  we  must  at  least  give  him 
credit  for  clearness  in  the  expression  of  his  ideas. 
His  arguments,  whether  weak  or  strong,  are  the 


34 


arguments  which  those  of  us  who  believe  in  pen¬ 
sions  or  retirement  funds  for  teachers  must  hear 
and  meet.  Let  us,  then,  examine  these  arguments 
in  a  spirit  of  entire  fairness,  and  let  us  try  to  find 
out  whether  the  teachers’  claims  are  valid  or  not. 

In  the  first  place  even  Mr.  Adams  admits  the 
justice  of  pensions  for  “soldiers  and  sailors  abso¬ 
lutely  incapacitated  from  earning  their  own  living 
by  injuries  received  in  actual  warfare.”  Many 
authorities  as  able  as  Mr.  Adams  and  not  less 
public-spirited  and  patriotic  favor  a  vast  extension 
of  the  limits  indicated  by  him.  But  suppose  that 
for  purposes  of  argument  we  admit,  for  the  time, 
that  pensions  should  be  paid  only  to  the  persons  in¬ 
cluded  in  Mr.  Adams’s  limited  category, to  what  an 
absurdity  are  we  quickly  reduced!  We  omit  the 
heroes  of  the  fire  department,  the  police  depart¬ 
ment,  the  life-saving  service,  heroes,  I  may  sav, 
who  strictly  in  the  line  of  their  duty  are  quite  as 
likely  to  meet  with  peril  to  life  and  limb  as  are  “sol¬ 
diers  and  sailors  in  actual  warfare.”  And,  to  re¬ 
strict  the  application  of  the  rule  even  further  than 
this  highly  proper  extension,  what  are  we  to  sav 
of  the  dependent  widows  and  orphans  of  soldiers 
and  sailors,  what  of  soldiers  and  sailors  themselves 
absolutely  incapacitated  not  in  actual  warfare,  but 
m  the  sendee  of  their  country  none  the  less,  men 
who  suffer  many  of  the  deprivations  and  hardships 
of  war  without  the  stimulus  of  its  excitement?  1 
tell  you,  gentlemen,  the  heart  of  the  American 
people  may  flutter  with  the  fluctuations  of  the 
stock  market,  but  its  systole  and  diastole  are  firm 
and  steady  and  incessant  with  gratitude  for  the 
deeds  and  lives  of  our  heroes,  whether  soldier, 
sailor,  life-saver,  fireman,  policeman,  or  other  pub¬ 
lic  servant.  And  what  is  a  pension?  Ts  it  a  form  of 
charity  doled  out  to>  parasites  on  the  body  politic  ? 
Is  it  a  bribe  to  influence  votes?  Ts  it  a  sop  to  the 
Cerberus  of  a  public  hungry  and  thirsty  for  the 


good  things  of  the  public  crib?  I  know  not  what 
abuses  may  arise  from  the  machinations  of  un¬ 
scrupulous  politicians  in  the  administration  of  great 
public  beneficence,  but  I  believe  that  our  entire 
pension  system  had  its  origin  in  a  sense  of  grati¬ 
tude  for  services  nobly  rendered,  and  that  it  is 
based  on  a  well-grounded  and  permanent  belief  that 
the  compensation  of  those  who  come  under  all  our 
pension  acts  has  been,  is,  and  is  likely  to  be  alto¬ 
gether  inadequate,  and  that,  in  view  of  this  inade¬ 
quacy,  it  ought  to  be  supplemented  by  pensions  as 
liberal  as  the  means  of  the  government  will  allow. 
But  where  does  the  teacher  come  in?  At  a  recent 
meeting  of  the  Boston  Association  of  School  Prin¬ 
cipals  many  heard  with  pleasure  the  eloquent 
words  of  President  Dill,  in  which  he  justly  magni¬ 
fied  the  office  of  the  teacher,  and  after  long  search¬ 
ing  could  find  in  it  no  inferiority  either  to  pulpit, 
bench,  bar,  press,  army,  navv,  or  medical  profes¬ 
sion.  Personally,  I  was  delighted  to  hear  such  ad- 
,  mirable  sentiments  so  eloquently  expressed,  and 
thev  suggest  that  beautiful  tribute  of  Holland’s: — 

“I  hold  the  teacher’s  position  second  to  none. 
The  Christian  teacher  of  a  band  of  children  com¬ 
bines  the  office  of  the  preacher  and  the  parent,  and 
has  more  to  do  in  shaping  the  mind  and  the  morals 
of  the  community  than  preacher  and  parent  united. 
The  teacher  who  spends  six  hours  a  day  with  my 
child  spends  three  times  as  many  hours  as  T  do, 
and  twenty-fold  more  time  than  my  pastor  does.  I 
have  no  words  to  express  my  sense  of  the  impor¬ 
tance  of  your  office. 

“Still  less  have  I  words  to  express  my  sense  of 
the  importance  of  having  that  office  filled  by  men 
and  women  of  the  purest  motives,  the  noblest  en¬ 
thusiasm,  the  finest  culture,  the  broadest  charity, 
and  the  most  devoted  Christian  purpose.  Why.  sir, 
a  teacher  should  be  the  strongest  and  most  angelic 
man  that  breathes.  No  man  living  is  intrusted 


36 


with  such  precious  material.  No  man  living  can  do 
so  much  to  set  human  life  to  such  a  noble  tune. 
No  man  living  needs  higher  qualifications  for  his 
work.” 

Of  the  unsurpassed  importance  of  the  teacher’s 
work,  and  of  the  remarkable  combination  of  quali¬ 
ties  necessary  for  the  successful  performance  of  his 
duties,  no  intelligent  person  can  have  the  slightest 
doubt.  The  law  says  of  the  teacher  that  he  is  in 
loco  parentis,  but  experience,  that  hard,  but  suc¬ 
cessful,  master  says:  “The  teacher  is  not  only  in 
loco  parentis,  but  in  loco  mcdici,  in  loco  advocati, 
in  loco  judicis,  in  loco  clerici,  and  in  loco  about 
everything  else,  so  numerous  and  so  delicate  are  the 
countless  and  varied  activities  of  the  teacher’s  pro¬ 
fession.'’  The  mere  fact  that  the  teacher  is  not 
actually  engaged  in  what  is  ordinarily  called  war¬ 
fare  does  not  alter  the  fact  that  his  profession  is 
dangerous  to  health,  vitality,  and  even  life  itself. 
Did  you  ever  read  the  statistics  of  death  from 
tuberculosis,  and  did  you  ever  ponder  on  the  sur¬ 
prising  mortality  from  this  disease  among  teachers 
of  the  Boston  public  schools?  Did  it  ever  occur 
to  you  that  teachers  are  frequently,  perhaps  daily, 
exposed  to  dangerous  and  contagious  diseases? 
That  thev  are  generally  subjected,  perhaps  neces¬ 
sarily,  to  conditions  inimical  to  health,  and  that  they 
are  practically  certain  to  experience,  as  Ithe  years 
go  by,  that  ebbing  of  the  vital  forces  which  is  the 
surest  sign  of  the  constant  working  of  the  deadly, 
though  insidious  forces  of  bad  air  and  similai 
menaces  to  health?  Did  you  ever  consider  the 
nervous  strain  to  which  we  masters  are  subjected? 
We  have  to  please  a  good  many  people,  including 
the  superintendent,  the  supervisors,  the  school 
committee,  the  parents,  the  teachers,  the  pupils,  the 
janitors,  the  community  at  large,  and,  something 
which  may  be  even  a  more  difficult  proposition,  our 
humble  selves. 


37 


But  Mr.  Adams  says  that  “persons  in  the  public 
employ  should  be  paid  adequate  compensation/’ 
and  that  “out  of  this  they  should  make  their  own 
provision  for  retirement  or  incapacity.”  But  educa¬ 
tional  history  shows  that  many  teachers  in  Boston 
were  paid  more  twenty-five  years  ago  than  they  are 
paid  now,  and  economic  history  shows  that  the  cost 
of  living  has  enormously  increased  during  that 
time,  and  practical  political  history  shows  that 
every  attempt  to  raise  a  salary  in  the  educational 
department  of  Boston  has  recently  met  with  a  veto-. 
There  would  seem,  then,  no  absolutely  immediate 
prospect  of  adequate  compensation  of  teachers  bv 
an  increase  of  salaries,  although  no  other  class  of 
public  servants  is  so  fully  entitled  to.  such  an  in¬ 
crease.  Without  adequate  compensation,  how  are 
the  teachers  going  to  make  provision  for  retire¬ 
ment  or  incapacity?  “They  should  do  exactly  as 
they  do  in  private  life,”  says  Mr.  Adams,  but  the 
nature  of  their  profession  and  the  exacting  charac¬ 
ter  of  their  duties  shut  them  off  from  the  usual  ave¬ 
nues  to  fortune  and  to  fame.  Some  years  ago, 
when  President  Eliot  addressed  the  Massachusetts 
Schoolmasters’  Club,  he  said  that  he  presumed  that 
the  average  accumulation  of  property  of  the 
masters  present  during  their  professional  lives 
would  not  exceed  twenty  thousand  dollars.  I  well 
remember  the  burst  of  Homeric  laughter  that  rip¬ 
pled  up  and  down  the  banquet  board.  What  were 
the  schoolmasters  laughing  at?  Wasn’t  it  a  suffi¬ 
ciently  serious  subject?  Of  course  it  was,  but  con¬ 
fidentially,  if  the  sum  of  twenty  thousand  dollars 
marks  the  completion  of  a  Boston  master’s  term  of 
service,  I  can  only  say  that  several  terms  of  service 
are  not  vet  completed.  But  let  us  grant  the  correct¬ 
ness  of  the  estimate,  what  is  a  teacher,  cut  off  for 
the  best  years  of  his  life  from  the  delusive  paths  of 
business,  going  to  do  with  his  somewhat  suppositi¬ 
tious  twenty  thousand  dollars?  Can  he  invest  it 


38 


safely  at  four  per  cent,  and  draw  eight  hundred 
dollars  a  year  for  the  rest  of  his  life?  I  do  not 
know,  but  even  if  he  could  do  so,  how  far  will  that 
go  towards  the  support  of  a  family?  And  what  will 
he  the  condition  of  those  teachers  whose  generosity 
and  self-sacrifice  have  caused  them  to  follow  the 
Scripture  injunction  almost  literally,  to  sell  all  they 
have  and  give  to  the  poor,  and  to  take  no  thought 
for  the  morrow?  1  tell  you,  gentlemen,  many  of  our 
teachers  are  poor,  indeed,  in  this  world’s  goods,  be¬ 
cause  they  have  laid  up  so-  much  treasure  in  heaven. 
But,  even  so,  it  does  not  seem  to  me  to  be  in  ac¬ 
cordance  with  the  dignity,  the  sense  of  justice,  or 
the  generosity  of  the  city  of  Boston  that  these 
teachers  should  have  an  old  age  of  penury  and  a 
death  of  want.  “Moreover,”  continues  Mr.  Adams, 
“the  pension  system  is  a  fraud.”  But  on  this  point, 
as  on  the  others,  I  must  enter  a  disclaimer.  Even 
though  some  dishonesty  may  have  been  detected  in 
connection  with  certain  pension  systems,  has  not 
the  good  resulting  from  them  been  incalculably 
greater  than  the  harm?  And  in  connection  with  a 
class  so  honorable,  so  self-restrained,  and  so  worthy 
as  the  profession  of  teachers,  would  not  the  dangers 
ol  fraud  under  a  carefully  guarded  and  rigidly 
scrutinized  system  of  pensions  be  reduced  to  a  mini¬ 
mum  so  infinitesimallv  small  that  it  might  be  dis- 
regarded  with  perfect  safety? 

In  connection  with  this  subject  it  is  only  fair  to 
state  that  Mr.  Adams's  position  is  by  no  means  the 
only  one  on  this  important  topic.  A  formidable 
array  of  highly  honored  names  may  be  cited  as  au¬ 
thority  for  views  diametrically  opposed  to  his.  Let 
me  mention  some  of  those  men  of  eminent  ability 
who  favor  pensions  for  teachers:  Grover  Cleveland, 
Charles  W.  Eliot,  Edward  Everett  Hale,  Charles 
Eliot  Norton,  William  H.  Maxwell,  James  Mac- 
A lister, — six  men  of  national  reputation  for  high 
character,  great  ability,  and  clear  thinking.  The 


39 


list  might  be  greatly  extended,  but  the  mere  fact 
that  such  men  advocate  the  plan  is  enough  to  show 
even  its  opponents  that  it  must  have  much  to  com-, 
mend  it.  S'tiil,  further,  Harvard,  Yale,  Columbia, 
Cornell,  and  other  institutions  have  actually  estab¬ 
lished  a  system  of  pensions — a  fact  of  great  signi¬ 
ficance  in  an  argument  with  those  who  say  that, 
first,  pensions  ought  not  to  be  granted,  and,  second, 
that  even  if  pensions  ought  to  be  granted,  they 
never  can  be.  In  reply  to  these  two  common  objec¬ 
tions  it  may  be  said: — 

1.  Pensions  are  merely  a  part  of  adequate  com¬ 
pensation. 

2.  They  relieve  the  teachers'  minds  from  the 
fear  of  an  old  age  of  poverty  or  dependence. 

3.  They  tend  to  elevate  the  profession  of  teach¬ 
ing  by  attracting  able  men  and  women,  and  bv  re¬ 
taining  them  during  the  period  of  efficiency. 

4.  They  make  possible  the  retirement  of  the 
aged  and  the  disabled  without  hardship,  and  so 
promote  the  dignity  and  general  efficiency  of  the 
corps. 

5.  They  tend  to  enable  teachers  to  live  in  a  man¬ 
ner  to  some  extent  becoming  their  extremely  im¬ 
portant  and  useful  profession. 

G.  They  allow  teachers  to  spend  more  money 
for  travel,  for  books,  for  additional  professional 
training,  and  for  all  those  means  of  improvement  so 
conducive  to  the  welfare  not  only  of  the  teachers 
personally,  but  of  their  pupils.  The  importance  of 
the  great  law  of  imitation,  whether  conscious  or 
unconscious,  in  the  relation  of  pupil  and  teacher, 
cannot'  be  overestimated. 

7.  Pensions  afford  a  slight  compensation  to  men 
and  women  of  first-rate  ability  for  sacrificing  all  the 
emoluments  of  other  more  financially  profitable  but 
less  useful  professions. 

8.  By  the  substitution  of  teachers  on  minimum 
salaries  for  those  retiring  on  maximum  salaries,  the 


40 


cost  of  a  pension  system  is  greatly  reduced,  while 
the  general  efficiency  of  the  teaching  force  is  pro¬ 
moted. 

9.  As  the  welfare  of  the  children  is  the  supreme 
law  of  the  school,  and  as  the  pension  system  pro¬ 
motes  the  efficiency  of  the  teaching  force,  it  is  evi¬ 
dent  that  the  welfare  of  the  children,  largely  de¬ 
pendent  as  it  is  on  the  efficiency  of  the  teaching 
force,  demands  this  system. 

10.  No  country,  no  cities  in  the  world  are  better 
able  to  adopt  the  pension  system  than  the  United 
States  and  its  great  cities.  But  many  foreign  coun¬ 
tries  have  already  adopted  a  pension  system,  and  are 
thus  showing  our  country  the  wav,  when  she  ought 
to  be  in  the  lead. 


ANDREW 


CARNEGIE’S  GREAT  GIFT. 


Whether  others  favor  teachers’  retirement  funds 
or  not,  there  can  be  no  doubt  of  Andrew  Carnegie’s 
opinion  on  the  subject,  as  shown  by  the  following 
extract  from  the  Boston  Transcript: — 

A  gift  of  $10,000,000  by  Andrew  Carnegie,  to 
provide  annuities  for  college  professors  who  are  not 
able  to  continue  in  active  service,  was  announced 
to-day  by  Frank  A.  Vanderlip,  vice-president  of 
the  National  city  bank  of  New  York.  Professors 
in  the  United  States,  Canada,  and  Newfoundland 
will  share  in  the  distribution  of  the  income  of  the 
fund  United  States  steel  corporation  five  per 
cent,  first  mortgage  bonds  for  $10,000,000*  have 
been  transferred  to  a  board  of  trustees,  and  steps 
will  be  taken  at  once  to  organize  a  corporation  to 
receive  the  donation.  Dr.  Pritchett,  president  of 
the  Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology,  and 
Mr.  V anderlip  have  been  selected  by  Mr.  Carnegie 
to  obtain  data  on  the  subject,  to  be  presented  at  the 
first  meeting  of  the  board  of  trustees,  which  will 


*  Since  increased  to  $15, 000,000. 


41 


take  place  on  November  15.  Mr.  Vanderlip  to-day 
sent  the  following  letter  to  the  press: — 

Andrew  Carnegie  has  transferred  to  a  hoard  of 
trustees  consisting  in  the  main  of  presidents  of  the 
most  important  colleges  in  the  United  States  and 
Canada  $10,000,000  first  mortgage  five  per  cent, 
steel  corporation  bonds.  The  purpose  of  the  trust 
fund  thus  created  is  to  provide  annuities  for  college 
professors  in  the  United  States,  Canada,  and  New¬ 
foundland  who  from  old  age  or  other  physical  dis¬ 
ability  are  no  longer  in  a  position  to  render  the 
most  efficient  service.  It  is  Mr.  Carnegie’s  belief 
that  this  fund  will  not  only  provide  a  dignified  pen¬ 
sion  system  for  a  body  of  most  worthy,  self-sacrific¬ 
ing,  and  poorly  paid  men,  but  that  it  will  be  of  dis¬ 
tinct  value  to  the  cause  of  education  in  offering  an 
opportunity  to  the  trustees  of  a  college  to  retire 
members  of  the  faculty  who  have  faithfully  served 
the  institution  for  many  years,  and  to  replace  such 
men  with  young,  vigorous,  and  efficient  professors. 
I  am  taking  the  liberty  of  enclosing  herewith  Mr. 
Carnegie’s  letter  outlining  the  nature  of  his  becpiest. 
This  letter  was  written  to  the  members  of  the  board 
of  trustees.  The  list  of  trustees  is  also  enclosed. 
All  have  accepted. 

Steps  'will  at  once  be  taken  to  organize  a  cor¬ 
poration  formally  to  receive  the  bequest.  The  first 
meeting  of  the  board  of  trustees  has  been  called  for 
November  15.  In  the  meantime  it  is  Mr.  Car¬ 
negie’s  desire  that  Dr.  Pritchett,  president  of  the 
Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology,  and  myself 
proceed  to  obtain  data  from  all  the  institutions  con¬ 
cerned,  for  use  at  the  meeting  of  the  trustees.  The 
bonds  which  Mr.  Carnegie  has  so  generously 
donated  have  a  market  value  of  $11,000,000,  and 
will  produce  an  annual  income  of  $500,000. 

The  corporation  which  is  being  formed  will  be 
styled  “The  Carnegie  Foundation.” 

(Signed)  F.  A.  Vanderlip. 


Mr.  Carnegie’s  letter  to  the  trustees  is  dated 
April  18,  and  is  as  follows: — 

1  have  reached  the  conclusion  that  the  least  re¬ 
ward  of  all  the  professionals  is  that  of  the  teacher 
in  our  higher  educational  institutions.  New  York 
city  generously,  and  very  wisely,  provides  retir¬ 
ing  pensions  for  teachers  in  her  public  schools,  and 
also  for  her  policemen.  Very  few  indeed  of  our  col¬ 
leges  are  able  to  do  so.  The  consequences  are 
grievous.  Able  men  hesitate  to  adopt  teaching  as  a 
career,  and  many  old  professors  whose  places 
should  be  occupied  by  younger  men  cannot  be  re¬ 
tired. 

1  have,  therefore,  transferred  to  you  and  your 
successors  as  trustees  $10,000,000  five  per  cent, 
first  mortgage  bonds  of  the  United  States  steel 
corporation,  the  revenue  from  which  is  to  provide 
retiring  pensions  for  the  teachers  .of  universities, 
colleges,  and  technical  schools  in  our  own  country, 
Canada,  and  Newfoundland,  under  such  conditions 
as  you  may  adopt  from  time  to  time.  Expert  cal¬ 
culation  shows  that  the  revenue  will  be  ample  for 
the  purpose. 

The  fund  applies  to  the  'three  classes  of  institu¬ 
tions  named,  without  regard  to  race,  sex,  creed,  or 
color.  We  have,  however,  to  'recognize  that  state 
and  colonial  governments  which  have  established, 
or  mainly  support  universities,  colleges,  or  schools 
may  prefer  that  their  relations  shall  remain  exclu¬ 
sively  with  the  state.  I  cannot,  therefore,  presume 
to-  include  them. 

There  is  another  class  which  states  do  not  aid, 
their  constitutions  in  some  cases  even  forbidding  it; 
viz.,  sectarian  institutions.  Many  of  these  estab¬ 
lished  long  ago  were  truly  sectarian,  but  to-dav  are 
free  to  all  men  of  all  creeds  or  of  none — such  are 
not  tO‘  be  considered  sectarian  now.  Only  such  as 
are  under  control  of  a  sect  or  require  trustees  (or  a 
majority  thereof),  officers,  faculty,  or  students  to 


43 


belong  to  any  specified  sect,  or  which  impose  any 
theological  test,  are  to  be  excluded. 

Trustees  shall  hold  office  for  five  years  and  be 
eligible  for  re-election.  The  first  trustees  shall 
draw  lots  for  one,  two,  three,  four  or  five  year 
terms,  so  that  one-fifth  shall  retire  each  year.  Each 
institution  participating  in  the  fund  shall  cast  one 
vote  for  trustees. 

The  trustees  are  hereby  given  full  powers  to 
manage  the  trust  in  every  respect ;  tO'  fill  vacancies 
of  non -ex-officio  members;  appoint  executive  com¬ 
mittees,  employ  agents ;  change  securities,  and, 
generally  speaking,  to  do  all  things  necessary  in 
their  judgment  to  ensure  the  most  beneficial  admin¬ 
istration  of  the  funds. 

By  a  two-thirds  vote  they  may  from  time  to  time, 
apply  the  revenues  in  a  different  manner,  and  for  a 
different  though  similar  purpose  to  that  specified, 
should  coming  days  bring  such  changes  as  render 
this  necessary  in  their  judgment,  to  produce  the 
best  results  possible  for  the  teachers  and  for  educa¬ 
tion. 

No  trustee  shall  incur  any  legal  liability  following 
from  his  trusteeship.  All  traveling  and  hotel  ex¬ 
penses  incurred  by  trustees  in  the  performance  of 
their  duties  shall  be  paid  from  the  fund,  the  ex¬ 
penses  of  wife  or  daughter  accompanying  the  trus¬ 
tees  to  the  annual  meeting  included. 

I  hope  this  fund  may  do  much  for  the  cause  of 
higher  education  and  to  remove  a  source  of  deep 
and  constant  anxiety  to  the  poorest  paid,  and  yet 
one  of  the  highest  of  all  professions. 

Gratefully  yours, 

(Signed)  Andrew  Carnegie. 

Among  the  trustees  are:  President  A.  T.  • 
Hadley,  Yale  University,  New  Haven,  Conn.: 
President  Charles  William  Eliot,  Harvard  Univer¬ 
sity,  Cambridge,  Mass.;  President  William  R. 


/ 


44 


Harper,*  University  of  Chicago,  Chicago,  Ih.; 
President  Nicholas  Murray  Butler,  Columbia  Uni- 
versity,  New  York;  President  Jacob  G.  Schurman, 
Cornell  University,  Ithaca,  N.  Y. ;  President  Wood- 
row  Wilson,  Princeton  University,  Princeton,  N.  J. ; 
President  I..  Clark  Seelye,  Smith  College,  North¬ 
ampton,  Mass.;  Provost  Charles  C.  Harrison,  Uni¬ 
versity  of  Pennsylvania,  Philadelphia,  Pa. :  Presi¬ 
dent  Alex  C.  Humphreys,  Stevens  Institute,  Hobo¬ 
ken,  N.  J.;  Chancellor  S.  B.  McCormick,  Western 
University  of  Pennsylvania,  Allegheny,  Pa.;  Presi¬ 
dent  Edwin  F.  Craighead,  Tulane  University, 
New  Orleans,  La.;  President  H.  C.  King,  Oberlin 
College,  Oberlin,  O.;  President  C.  F.  Thwing, 
Western  Reserve  University,  Cleveland,  O. ;  Presi¬ 
dent  Thomas  McClelland,  Knox  College,  Gales¬ 
burg,  Ill. ;  President  Edwin  H.  Hughes,  De  Pauw 
University,  Greencastle,  Ind. ;  President  H.  Mc¬ 
Clelland  Bell,  Drake  University,  Des  Moines,  Ta. 

Noav  all  of  these  gentlemen  are  presumably  ad¬ 
vocates  of  the  principles  involved  in  a  retirement 
fund  for  college  teachers. 

But  every  argument  which  leads  so  logically  to 
retirement  annuities  for  college  teachers  leads  even 
more  logically  to  retirement  annuities  for  all  public 
school  teachers.  What  says  Jacob  A.  Riis,  so 
widely  known  for  his  public  spirit? 

“Each  generation  sees  the  rush  away  from  the 
land  grow,  sees  the  cities  swell,  sees  character  and 
individuality  struggling  with  heavier  odds.  When  I 
watch  the  seas  rising  and  the  clouds  threatening  \ 
think  of  the  school  ma’am  at  the  helm  and  am  glad. 
Laugh  if  you  will ;  1  am  content.  While  she  is 
there,  we  are  safe. 

“In  a  very  real  way  the  teacher  is,  must  be,  both 
mother  and  home  to  too  many  of  her  children. 
Could  any  pay  reward  the  weary  lives  I  have  seen 


*  Deceased. 


45 


✓ 


literally  worn  out  in  the  service  of  stricken  human¬ 
ity  in  the  slums  of  my  own  city — worn  to  the  raw, 
day  by  day,  with  never  a  word  betraying’  the  toil 
and  suffering;  with  the  brave,  patient  smile  ever 
there  to  cheer  and  help?  I  am  thinking  now  of  one 
Christmas  festival  in  a  ragged  school,  and  of  the 
sweet-faced  teacher  at  the  piano,  with  the  children 
clustering  around  her  singing  their  glad  songs. 
None  of  them  knew  that  she  had  come  from  the 
death-bed  of  her  only  sister,  who  was  breathing  her 
life  out  while  she  played  and  sang  with  breaking 
heart,  hiding  her  pain  with  a  smile  lest  she  sadden 
the  children’s  jov.  Pay?  I  would  have  every 
teacher  who  is  worthy  the  name  of  teacher — and 
there  should  never  be  any  other — paid  enough  to 
put  her  ever  and  for  good  beyond  need  of  care;  and 
when  her  years  of  service  were  over,  I  would  have 
her  rank  as  pensioner  upon  the  community ! — nay, 
not  bounty,  but  undying  gratitude — ranking  at 
least  with  those  who  guard  it  against  peril  from 
fire  and  from  violence.” 

It  lias  been  said,  wisely  or  unwisely,  that  4  cor¬ 
porations  have  no  souls,”  but  even  though  this 
statement  may  lie  true  in  some  cases,  it  certainly  is 
not  true  in  all.  The  following  article  taken  from 
the  Boston  Journal  shows  what  some  of  the  great 
railroads  are  willing  to  do  for  their  employees: — 


l 


4G 


PLAN  NEW  PENSION  SCHEME  FOR  B. 

&  M.  ROAD. 


Co-Operative  Idea  Favored  with  2  Per  Cent,  of 
Salary  Received  10  Years  Before  Retirement 
Multiplied  by  Years  of  Service. 


B.  &  M.  PENSION  PLAN  IN  NUTSHELL. 

Some  of  tlie  phases  of  tlie  new  co-operative  pen¬ 
sion  plan  under  consideration  by  officials  and 
employees  of  the  Boston  &  Maine. 

Number  of  employees  of  Boston  & 

Maine  .  24,000 

Total  annual  salaries  paid  by  rail¬ 
road  . $15,000,000 

Employees  to  pay  1  per  cent,  of  sal¬ 
ary  . .  150,000 

Railroad  to  gne  like  amount .  150,000 

Total  pension  fund  provided .  300,000 

Retirement  ape  to  be  after  35  years  of  service, 
or  after  employee  is  65  years  of  age. 

The  annual  pension  for  each  employee  to  equal 
2  per  cent,  of  the  yearly  salary  he  received 
ten  years  before  retirement,  multiplied  by 
the  number  of  years  of  liis  service. 

On  severing  his  connection  with  the  company 
tlie  employee  will  be  refunded  the  sum  he  had 
paid  into  the  pension  fund. 


That  a  new  co-operative  system  of  pensioning 
the  aged  employees  of  the  Boston  &  Maine  will  be 
instituted  is  regarded  as  practically  assured  by  old 
railroad  men,  for  the  reason  that  President  Lucius 
Tuttle  has  instructed  fourth  vice-President  William 
j.  Hobbs  to  formulate  a  report  for  the  new  proposi¬ 
tion,  and  has  given  him  the  power  to  employ  an  ex¬ 
pert  to  help  get  the  matter  in  the  best  possible 
shape  for  presentation  to  the  board  of  directors. 
The  railroad  is  also  tabulating  the  ages  of  the 
24,000  employees. 

The  pension  matter  has  been  under  considera¬ 
tion  by  the  conductors  of  the  road  for  several 
months.  It  is  thought  that  a  co-operative  scheme, 


47 


in  which  the  men  will  contribute  half  of  the  fund, 
would  be  the  most  desirable.  The  Boston  &  Maine 
pays  out  in  salaries  annually  about  $15,000,000. 
Those  back  of  the  pension  plan  say  that  the  em¬ 
ployees  will  not  object  to  paying  into  the  fund  one 
per  cent,  of  their  income,  which  in  all  would  amount 
to  $150,000.  In  the  plan  the  company  will  set  aside 
a  like  amount,  so  that  the  fund  of  $300,000  would 
be  secured  as  a  starter.  This  is  the  amount  that 
the  Pennsylvania  system  has  given  over  to  its  pen¬ 
sion  system,  though  the  number  of  that  road’s  em¬ 
ployees  is  very  much  greater  than  that  of  the  Bos¬ 
ton  &  Maine. 

SEEK  SENTIMENT  OF  MEN. 

President  Tuttle,  when  approached  by  a  few  far- 
sighted  conductors  regarding  the  matter,  told  them 
to'  find  out  the  sentiment  of  the  men  and  then  re¬ 
port  again.  He  thought  that  if  75  per  cent,  of  the 
employees  would  go  into  the  scheme  voluntarily, 
the  system  would  easily  be  carried  out  without 
legislative  action.  Under  the  conditions  the  em¬ 
ployees  would  agree  to  have  the  1  per  cent,  de¬ 
ducted  from  their  salary  every  month. 

The  outline  of  the  plan  under  consideration 
states  that  when  an  employee  severs  his  connection 
with  the  road  his  contribution  to  the  pension  fund 
will  be  given  back.  In  case  he  dies  the  money  will 
go  to  his  heirs.  For  those  men  who  are  now  old 
enough  to  begin  to  receive  pensions  it  is  proposed 
to  deduct  from  the  sum  they  will  receive  an  amount 
proportionate  to  that  which  they  would  pay  if  they 
were  still  active  employees  for  a  period  of  ten 
years. 

DEPENDS  UPON  LENGTH  OF  SERVICE. 

How  much  a  given  pension  would  amount  to 
will  depend  upon  the  length  of  service  of  the  recipi¬ 
ent.  The  idea  most  in  favor  is  to  give  the  pen¬ 
sioner  2  per  cent,  of  the  salary  he  received  ten  years 


48 


before  his  retirement,  multiplied  by  the  number  of 
years  he  has  worked  for  the  company.  Thus,  if  a 
man  retired  at  the  age  of  sixty-five  years,  and  was 
making  $1,200  a  year  ten  years  before,  at  which 
time  he  would  be  regarded  as  being  in  his  prime, 
and  had  worked  for  the  company  twenty-five  years, 
he  would  receive  a  pension  of  $600  annually. 

At  a  meeting  held  a  few  days  ago,  attended  by 
150  delegates  from  the  various  labor  organizations 
in  the  service  of  the  road,  resolutions  wrere  unani¬ 
mously  adopted  to  urge  the  completion  of  the  new 
scheme. 

John  If.  Parent  of  Somerville  was  elected  chair¬ 
man.  Mr.  Parent  was  one  of  the  first  to  propose 
the  pension  system  to  President  Tuttle.  To  a 
Journal  reporter  Mr.  Parent  declared  last  night : 
“The  pension  system  cannot  come  too  soon  to 
please  the  men.  The  meeting  we  held  showed  that 
there  will  be  little  opposition  from  the  men.  I  be¬ 
lieve  all  of  the  railroad!  men  will  be  in  favor  of  it 
when  it  is  explained  to  them.  We  are  willing  to  rely 
on  the  good  judgment  of  President  Tuttle,  and  will 
await  patiently  until  the  matter  can  be  fully  dis¬ 
cussed/' 

“AGE  PENSIONS  A  SUCCESS.” 

Washington,  March  24. — The  subject  of  super¬ 
annuation  of  employees  in  the  civil  service  of  the 
government  is  now  receiving  a  large  amount  of  at¬ 
tention. 

All  the  great  nations  except  the  United  States 
have  provided  for  retirement  of  employees  under 
various  conditions,  with  pay,  as  shown  by  sub¬ 
joined  tables.  The  officers  of  the  Grand  Trunk 
railway  of  Canada  say  in  part  as  to  the  effects  of  a 
retirement  scheme  put  in  operation  by  that  com¬ 
pany  thirty-two  years  ago: — 

“It  has  been  stated  that  the  existence  of  a  pen¬ 
sion  acts  as  a  detriment  to  efficient  service  owing 
to  the  tendency  on  the  part  of  an  employee  ap- 


49 


preaching-  the  retirement  age  to  become  lax  in  the 
performance  of  duty,  in  consequence  of  the  knowl¬ 
edge  that  he  will  soon  be  able  to  leave  the  service 
and  draw  a  pension.  The  experience  of  this  com¬ 
pany  has  demonstrated  that  such  reasoning  is  en¬ 
tirely  fallacious.  Every  company  and  corporation 
having  a  retirement  pension  system  in  operation 
regards  it  as  a  good  business  investment  without 
considering  the  humanitarian  principle  involved. 
Many  say  that  the  plan  results  in  creating  among 
the  employees  a  feeling  of  permanency  in  their  em¬ 
ployment,  enlarges  their  interest  in  their  employers’ 
affairs,  and  induces  them  to  remain  in  and  devote 
their  best  efforts  and  attention  to  their  employers’ 
service.  France  has  had  a  system  in  operation  for 
over  fifty  years,  and  has  granted  pensions  far  be¬ 
yond  anything  of  the  kind  ever  proposed  in  this 
country,  contributing  large  sums  annually  out  of 
the  public  funds  to  sustain  the  system,  which  in¬ 
cludes  the  consular  and.  diplomatic  service.” 

The  following  table  gives  a  synopsis  of  systems 
established  and  in  operation: — 

O — Means  three-fourths  of  average  salary. 

P — One-third  of  deceased  husband’s  pension  and 
one  month’s  salary. 

Q — On  married  employees  for  benefit  of  widows 
and  minor  children. 

R — Fifteen-sixtieths  of  last  active  salary  and  one- 
sixtieth  for  each  year’s  service. 

S — Service. 

D — Disability. 

A — 9,500,000  in  1900.  (a)  one-sixtieth  of  aver¬ 
age  salary  in  sedentary  branches ;  (b)  one-half  of 
average  salary,  plus  one-fiftieth,  for  each  year’s  ser¬ 
vice  over  twenty-five;  (d)  determined  by  rank  of 
husband — from  $1,200  to  $1G0;  (e)  if  able  to  work 
after  thirty-five  years’  service,  gets  both  salary  and 
pension ;  (g)  full  pay  after  thirty  years’  service ;  (k) 


50 


Orphans’  and  Minors’ 
Pensions  . 


Amount  of  Widows’  Pen¬ 
sions  . 

Widow’s  Pension  if  Mar¬ 
riage  Antedates  Re¬ 
tirement  . 


Minimum  of  Pension  of 
Average  Salary . 


Basis  of  Pension 


Amount  of  Pension 


Appropriated  by  Govern¬ 
ment  . 

Per  Cent,  of  Assessment. 


Caused  by  Act  of 
Valor . 


So  4 


Result  of  Accident 
While  on  Duty .... 


Physical  or  Mental 
Disability . 


Service  in  Years  Requir’d 


Compulsory  or  Non-com- 
pulsory . 


Age 


for  Retirement . 


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52 


1  per  cent,  for  each  year  of  service  on  average 
monthly  pay;  (1)  for  each  year’s  service. 

Among  the  corporations  paying  the  entire  cost 
of  pensions  are  the  following: — 

Canadian  Pacific  railroad. 

Pennsylvania  railroad. 

Pennsylvania  railroad  lines  west  of  Pittsburg. 

*New  York  Central  &  Hudson  River  railroad. 

^Boston  &  Albany  railroad. 

Baltimore  &  Ohio  railroad. 

Illinois  Central  railroad. 

Boston  &  Maine  railroad. 

Southern  Pacific  railroad. 

Delaware,  Lackawanna  &  Western  railroad. 

Philadelphia  &  Reading  railroad. 

Midvale  Steel  Company. 

^Cumberland  Valley  railroad. 

San  Antonio  &  Aransas  Pass  railroad. 

*Champlain  Transportation  Company. 

Metropolitan  Street  railroad. 

Oregon  Railroad  &  Navigation  Company. 

Boston  Elevated  railroad. 

Fourth  Street  National  Bank,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

*Southwark  National  bank,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

*First  National  Bank,  Pittsburg,  Pa. 

*Bank  of  New  York  National  Banking  Associa¬ 
tion. 

^Merchants  National  Bank,  Baltimore,  Md. 

Old  Dominion  Steamship  Company. 

In  corporations  preceded  by  mark  retire¬ 
ments  in  each  case  are  treated  upon  merits.  As  a 
general  rule,  retirements  are  compulsory  at  the  age 
of  seventy,  while  voluntary  retirements  are  per¬ 
mitted  from  ages  fifty-five  to  seventy. 

The  Brownlow  bill,  lately  introduced  in  Con¬ 
gress,  provides  for  retirement  of  employees  in  the 
classified  service  at  various  ages  under  certain  con¬ 
ditions,  with  a  pension  after  retirement  equal  to 
50  per  cent,  of  the  average  salary  paid  them  while 


V 


in  active  service.  The  bill  provides  a  method  for 
creating  a  sufficient  fund  for  the  payment  of  pen¬ 
sions  by  assessments  on  salaries,  promotions,  and 
original  appointments. 

And  now  what  legislation  is  needed  to  bring 
about  the  long-desired  condition  of  affairs?  It  is 
perfectly  evident  that  there  must  be  legislation  of 
two  kinds ;  namely,  general  and  special.  First, 
then,  general  legislation  is  needed  to  empower 
every  city  and  town  in  the  state  to  establish  retire¬ 
ment  funds,  if  they  desire  so  to  do.  Furthermore, 
such  legislation  might  well  determine  what  part, 
if  any,  the  state  itself  will  take  in  this  matter. 
Second,  special  legislation  is  needed  in  the  case  of 
any  city  which  has  already  made  a  beginning  of 
the  retirement  fund  work,  in  order  to  make  out  of 
past  legislation  and  desired  legislation  one  consist¬ 
ent,  harmonious  whole.  A  tentative  bill,  then, 
would  be  something  like  the  following: — 

PROPOSED  BILL. 

The  school  committee  in  every  city  and  in  every 

town  in  the  state  of  -  shall  have  the  power 

to  create  and  maintain  a  public  school  teachers’ 
retirement  fund,  and  for  that  purpose  it  may  set 
apart  the  following  money,  to  wit 

(J)  An  amount  not  exceeding  one  per  cent,  per 
annum  of  the  respective  salaries  paid  to  teachers, 
which  amount  shall  be  deducted  in  equal  instal¬ 
ments  from  the  said  salaries  at  the  regular  time  for 
the  payment  of  such  salaries. 

(2)  All  moneys  received  from  donations,  lega¬ 
cies,  gifts,  bequests,  or  from  any  other  source,  on 
account  of  said  fund. 

(3)  All  money,  pay,  compensation,  or  salary,  or 

any  income  thereof  forfeited,  deducted,  reserved, 
or  withheld  for  any  cause  from  any  member  or 
members  of  the  teaching  or  supervising  staff  of  the 
public  day  schools  of  any  city  or  any  town  in  the 
state  of - . 


54 


(4)  Such  additional  sums  of  money  as  shall  be 
sufficient,  together  with  the  money  from  all  other 
sources  hereinbefore  mentioned,  and  from  all  such 
other  methods  of  increment  as  may  be  duly  and 
legally  devised  for  the  increase  of  said  fund,  to  pay 
annuitants  one-half  of  their  regular  salaries  at  the 
time  of  retirement,  provided  that  no  supervising 
officer  shall  receive  more  than  $2,000  per  annum 
when  retired,  and  no  teacher  shall  receive  more 
than  $1,500  per  annum  when  retired.  Provided, 
further,  that  supervising  officers  or  teachers  com¬ 
pelled  by  disability  to  retire  before  they  have 
reached  the  period  of  service  required  for  obtain¬ 
ing  the  regular  annuity  shall  be  paid  annuities  pro 
rata  to  their  term  of  service. 

The  bill  should  also  include  provisions  as  fol¬ 
lows  : — 

(a)  For  the  general  care  and  management  of 
the  fund. 

(b)  For  the  rules  of  retirement. 

(c)  For  refunds  to  those  who  leave  the  service 
without  becoming  annuitants. 

(d)  For  the  safeguarding  of  previous  legisla¬ 
tion  already  in  force. 

(e)  For  the  state’s  contribution  to  the  fund. 

To  the  Writer  and  compiler  of  these  articles,  it 

seems  that  the  New  York  legislation  on  a,  b,  and 
c  might  well  be  taken  as  the  frame-work  of  desired 
legislation.  It  is  earnestly  desired  that  all  those 
interested  in  this  question  of  retirement  funds 
will  give  assistance  to  the  cause  in  every  way. 
Searching  criticism  of  the  seventeen  articles  of  this 
series  is  particularly  desired,  to  the  end  that  every 
desirable  feature  of  previous  legislation  on  this  sub¬ 
ject  may  be  embodied  in  a  new  bill,  and  that  new 
features  of  importance  and  value,  the  result  of  wise 
counsel,  careful  thought,  and  long  experience,  may 
also  be  found  in  the  newest  and  best  legislation. 


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